


Yule 1977

by EliLeFey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Severus Snape - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2018-04-13 13:19:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4523574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliLeFey/pseuds/EliLeFey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a chapter for Severus Foreverus I wrote a while back, and I'm going to post it now rather than wait until I get there in the main story, which is changing as I write it.  I'm going to put in more of their school days, so I'm going to post some of the significant events separately.  Eventually I'll get around to stringing everything together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dancing is Mandatory

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to a lot of Joe Jackson when I came up with the plot for this. Especially "You can't get what you want (til you know what you want)" and "Be My Number Two" and his EP set "Look Sharp" And of course, a lot of Roxy Music to get in the mood. Dance Away The Heartache, y'all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeV2Lq5t_WY OK, it came out in 1979, not 1977, but Severus had to be a huge Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music fan.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGqmiT7JJVg>

Sometimes you start feelin'

So lost and lonely

Then you'll find

It's all been in your mind

Sometimes you think

Someone is the one and only

Can't you see It could be you and me?

But if there's any doubt

Then I think I'll leave it out

'Cause I'll tell you one thing

You can't get what you want

Till you know what you want [Joe Jackson]

Early that December Eli was summoned to Dumbledore’s office before classes.  When she arrived at his office,  Professors M and S were there, seated on either side of Severus.  “Do sit down, Eli.” 

“Oh, no, what did I do now.” 

“It’s what you aren’t doing, my dear,” said Prof S.  “Without going into your many well reasoned arguments why you should not attend any social events at Hogswart, you know you are a special case here, and everything you do is noticed.  I daresay that most parents of boys here are glad you aren’t putting yourself in the dating pool, but you really do have to show up now and then, and this Yule party is a very special event.  There will be people from the Ministry there, who oversee funding, and many representatives from different agencies who are taking a look at this year’s graduates.  We would like to see everyone from your class there, including you, and Severus, who has agreed to be your escort.  And since I am in charge of this party, it _has_ to be perfect, and you _have_ to be there.  Your father agrees.'

 “Where am I supposed to get a suitable dress in time?  And I don’t know how to dance, do you, Severus?” 

Prof M smiled.  “Not a problem.  I can teach you.  We have over two weeks.  Be in my office after your last class and we will get started.  Your mother and your sister are working on getting you a dress, don’t worry.” 

“There’s no way out of this, is there, Professor Dumbledore?” 

“No, Eli, there isn’t.  Do try and handle this with grace and dignity.  Now, you’d best get to class.” 

Eli and Severus left the office.  Eli immediately began to complain.  “I can’t believe they are making me do this … what did they do to you to get you to agree?” 

“I want to take you.  Don’t you believe that?” 

“Come on, Severus, don’t make fun of me.  Nobody wants to dance with me.” 

“I do.” 

“I don’t even know how to dance.”

“You’ll learn.” 

“’Whose side are you on?’” 

“’That would be telling’”  

Eli let out an exasperated sigh. 

 

After classes they went to Prof M’s office.  She led them to a vacant classroom and they moved the desks out of the center.  They were joined by half a dozen other students, all shifting about from foot to foot and looking nervous.

“Take off your shoes, you can’t dance in street shoes.  You will learn a minimum of  three dances in the next two weeks.  We will start with the simplest, the Viennese Waltz.  Mr Snape, Miss le Fey, would you step forward?  This dance is done completely from the closed position.  You hold your skirt with one hand, and your partner’s with your other.  Your partner holds you by placing his hand on your back, so. Now, the man leads and the woman follows.  Partner up.” 

The students paired off.  There is a three beat pattern, stay on the beat. Don’t try to show off, this dance is one best done simply.  Pay attention.” 

 

Classes ended the day before the party.  Many of the younger students were finished packing and went on day trips to Hogsmeade, and the students attending spent the day getting ready.  Severus spent the day practicing dance steps in the studio, in front of the mirror, while Eli was worked on by her older sister and great grandmother.  After hours of deliberation, it was decided she should wear an emerald green silk velvet gown, bias cut, with a cowl neckline, very low in back, dolman sleeves, fitted to her waist and narrow hips, flared out into a skirt with a train.

Cordelia retrieved her jewel box, saying, “These are your Yule presents, Eli, it’s time you learned about how to decorate yourself.”  She brought out an emerald and pearl coronet, made to look like a wreath of mistletoe.  This was placed on her hair, styled in curls, pinned in place with diamond studded hairpins.  Her amulet was put on a three strand pearl choker, and her diamond chaos stars earrings sparkled.  A diamond bracelet in the form of a snake with emerald eyes wrapped around her wrist.  After sorting through rings, Great Grandmother took out a large, oval cabouchon ruby intaglio of a dragon, set in gold.

   JeanneMarie frosted her face with makeup, then stood back and looked at Eli with a critical eye.  “That’s great how the material drapes, it makes your muscles look sexy,” she said.  Don’t wear anything under it except this padded bra and a G string.” 

“What?” 

“Just shut up and put ‘em  on.  Everyone’s used to seeing you as the big badass Faerie soldier, show them what they’ve been missing!  A bit of cleavage never hurt anyone, and your butt is your best asset.”  Eli complied. 

“I’m as ready as I’m going to get …I look great in drag, don’t I?”  Just then the door opened and Severus walked in, resplendent in black silk formal robes, his new dancing shoes spitshined.  “You look fantastic, Severus!”

  “Look at you, Eli.  Amazing transfiguration.” 

“’Do I glitter when I walk?’”   Eli spun around in a pirouette.  “I know I’m going to trip over this skirt.” 

“There is a netsuke to hold on the underside of the skirt, just keep it out of your way, and remember to keep your arm relaxed and bent gracefully.  Don’t do anything fast, slow down, don’t stride, show yourself,” instructed Cordelia.  “And have a dance with Albus for me.” 

 

Tabby brought out a memory globe and captured some images of Eli, JeanneMarie, Severus, and Great Grandmother, until Nils drove the coach up to the door.  “Not enough snow on the ground to use the sleigh, I’m afraid.” 

“the coach is warmer, even though it’s not as picturesque.  You have to think about your entrance, Eli.” 

She rolled her eyes.  “This is not going to be fun.”

 Cordelia shook her head.  “Try not to think about them too much, don’t look at them, look at Severus when you’re dancing, and smile until your face hurts. And then keep smiling.  Let them try and come to you, and you are expert at evasion and maneuvering under fire.  Work the room like it’s enemy territory.”

JeanneMarie took a small pinch of powder from a silver box and tossed it over their heads.  “A bit of glamour from real Faerie Dust.  Now you’ll be the Prince and Princess of this ball, enjoy!”  Severus thought to himself, “The Half-Blood Prince and the Faerie Princess Go To the Ball”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUVHM0RQloQ 

 

 **[Joe Jackson](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/joe+jackson/) ** **– Be My Number Two Lyrics**

Won't you be my number two  
Me and number one are through  
There won't be too much to do  
Just smile when I feel blue  
  
And there's not much left of me  
What you get is what you see  
Is it worth the energy  
I leave it up to you  
  
And if you got something to say to me  
Don't try to play your funny games on me  
I know that it's really not fair of me

And every time I look at you  
You'll be who  
I want you to  
And I'll do what I can do  
To make a dream or two come true  
If you'll be my  
If you be my number two

 

On the ride to Hogwart’s Eli took several puffs of Faerie hashish.  “Come on, Eli, suck it up and soldier on!  You can face this.  Be the Faerie Princess for a night.  Dazzle them.  Just act like a girl, OK?  Let me help you out of the coach, don’t jump down.”

  “I know I’m going to trip in our dance number.” 

“ keep the train in your hand.” 

“I’ll flash a lot of leg that way.” 

“Yes, you will.  I’m quite looking forward to that.” 

“you sure you got the lift down?”

“Yes, I do, don’t worry.  Don’t forget to hop to help me, you are no dainty swan.” 

 

They drove past the gates.  There were many carriages in the drive, as the VIPs arrived.  The coach stopped, and Severus leaped to the ground, his cape flying.  He turned down the step, held out his hand, and Eli’s foot, clad in a silver shoe with emerald buttons, emerged, she took his hand, and stepped down.  Eli spoke to Nils, “I think we have to stay for the duration.” 

 “Well, here goes. “ Eli took Severus’s arm and they walked in the doors, to the Great Hall.  They checked their wraps at a table run by junior students, who gaped at Eli. 

“Miss le Fey!  You are so beautiful!”  gushed a young Slytherin.

  “Thank you, Rowena.” 

They walked into the Great Hall, watched closely by everyone already assembled.  They strode to Eli’s usual corner, near where the professors were gathered.  Prof S scurried to them and dragged them to the group he was sitting with. 

“These are friends of mine from the Ministry.”  Eli bowed politely, but not deeply, being too aware of the frontage created by the bra, at everyone she was presented to. Professor Dumbledore approached them, and said, “Minerva wants me to see how your dance lessons went.  The music is about to start, you might want to get ready."  

Severus removed his long outer robe, placing it on a chair near a small table in the corner.  Eli surreptitiously stretched her leg muscles.  As the band picked up their instruments and the conductor tapped his podium, they walked hand in hand to the center of the floor.  The band started a waltz, and Eli spun into the closed position, and they danced.  She did not take her eyes off his face. 

 

They were closely observed by Lily, Peter, Sirius, his date Diane Spenser, and Remus, who weren’t dancing, much to the chagrin of the girls.  Sirius gawked at Eli.  “look at that Faerie slag with Snivellus, doesn’t he look sweet“

“Shut the fuck up, Sirius, it’s time you stopped picking on him,” snarled Remus.  “It’s not funny anymore.  Haven’t you .. haven’t _we_ , done enough to him?”

“What the hell happened to you, Remus, you’ve turned into a pussy every since they prefectored you!”  

"Sirius, there’s good and bad in all of us, right?  Severus has good in him or she wouldn’t be friends with him.  I’ve always wanted to get to know her, I think she and her people are fascinating, but because of you and James, she won’t even admit I exist.” 

Lily smiled.  “I remember the first day she came, in Creatures class, she called the unicorn; she could walk in the Forest and none would harm her, even the Centaurs like her.” 

“Well, what do you expect,” said Peter.  “Those creatures know what Faeries can do, how they can kill.  I think part of the reason old Snape is so good at Dark Arts is her, she’s been training in Druidic War Magic.   And I heard her talking about necromancy with Dumbledore.” 

“Come on now, she’s the hottest thing in the room,” said Sirius. 

“Maybe, if you like the dangerous type,” said James.  “I don’t,” he added, patting Lily’s arm. 

“I’m glad Sev finally has a true friend,” said Lily.  “She sees him clearly, maybe we haven’t been fair.” 

“Snivellus doesn’t deserve a piece of tail that fine,” said Sirius. 

“Oh, give it a rest!” said Remus

“Haven’t you got the message, Sirius, you’re _never_ gonna get her! I’m not risking another broken knee because of YOU!”, said James. 

“Let’s dance, Sirius,” said Diane.  “Yes, James, why don’t we take the floor?”  “Maybe later when the show offs get tired.  Let M’s pets have their little recital first.” 

Eleutheria got to her feet.  “Eli is my friend, Black, and I’m fucking tired of all the shit you say about her.  Sorry, Lupin, I never should have agreed to come to this dance with you.  I’m leaving.  After I tell Prof M and S why I’m bailing”  She strode off, Remus following close behind. 

“Get away from me, Lupin, you’re as bad as the rest of them. You say nothing with they libel her, you do nothing when they bully Severus, and he’s my friend too.  Fuck off.   I wish I’d been put in any other house than Gryffindor, if you are an example of what the house stands for.  Some prefects you and Evans are, you cover for your pals even when they break the rules. You’re worse than they are.  You’re not just enabling them, you’re aiding and abetting.”

The conductor announced a foxtrot.  The couples on the floor took their spots.  Eli and Severus kept center floor, the other dancers conceding them the space.  Prof M and S beamed at them.  The VIPs from the Ministry and visiting academics watched with interest. 

When the conductor announced a quickstep, about half of the remaining couples left the floor, and Eli nodded to the others, who moved to spots near the stage.  Eli and Severus began the dance “standard” but soon went into a choreographed routine, pulling off side by side moves, as they skittered energetically across the floor, their feet flying.  Eli’s legs flashed as she executed the steps, and the final lift and spin into a final pose were flawless, ending up at Prof M’s feet, who laughed in delight as the crowd applauded the performance. 

“And you said you couldn’t dance, Eli,” she said. 

“I couldn’t.  Severus is a natural; a great partner always makes the woman look like a star, and Great Grandmother has been drilling me in this piece for the last 10 days.  My feet are a mess.  Wore out a pair of shoes getting that down.” 

When the band played a waltz, Severus gracefully bowed to Prof M, and asked her to dance.  Eli held her hand out to Prof D.  “Great Grandmother asked me to dance with you for her” 

“Do you know she taught me to dance?” 

“Oh, yes, she told me quite a bit about you.” 

“you are the most beautiful woman here tonight.  Everyone is talking about you, and asking about Severus, important people.  I agree with you, he should teach and do research.” 

“The College of Druids have expressed an interest in him, if he ever wants to defect, he’s got a place there.” 

“I’d hate to lose him.” 

“Not as much as I would.” 

“I was worried about him when he began, until you came.   You have made a difference in him.” 

Eli gave him a troubled look, her smile slipping for a moment.  “The Crone is very concerned about him.  You know that bad things are coming, you know the reasons why, and I have to go overseas as soon as I graduate.  Things are about to boil over in Tibet, all the seers say so.  And Father is in real danger.  There are bad things going on in the Ministry, you know that. Father is caught right in the middle.” 

“I will do what I can to look out for Severus when you’re gone, and I really would like to see him here teaching.  There are some people here tonight who could help make that happen.” 

“He’s my Kryptonite.” 

“What?” 

“The Muggle comic book hero Superman has one weakness.” 

“You look at love as weakness, you may not like that word, but you have to deal with the fallout.” “There’s more to it than that.  It’s a Fey thing.  You wouldn’t understand.” 

“I think I understand a lot more than you give me credit for, Eli.  I’d say he’s your Achille’s Heel, anyone can get to you by attacking him.” 

“I don’t want to lose him.” 

“You have to let him learn his own lessons, you can’t protect him or fight his battles.”

“Isn’t that what I trained my whole life to do?  To protect and fight for others?”  “For those who can’t, and he is not defenseless.” 

“My friends in Avalon say I’ve gone Terran over him.” 

“They’re right, you have.  It’s not such a bad thing.  For him, anyway.”  She gave him a troubled look.  “Smile, my dear.  Ask him to tell you the story of the ‘Fountain of Fair Fortune’ some time.”

Eleutheria went to the corner where Eli had been sitting and watched the dancing.  Sirius Black watched Eli dance with predatory eyes.  Diane was beginning to sniffle into her handkerchief.  Lily noticed it and suggested they go to the ladies’ room together. 

 

“Prof M, do you have a minute?”  Eleutheria said.  “I have to leave now.  I can’t stand being around Black and the way he talks about Eli and Severus.  I never should have agreed to come here with his best pal, your PREFECT, who does NOTHING to stop the abuse, neither does Evans, so they pretty much have the entire House behaving like thugs towards those two.  I’ve had it with how Black treats women, he’s got poor Diana crying already.  I am really sorry I let my parents send me here.  I should have gone to Beauxbaton’s.  Yeah, Gryffindor courage, gang up on people and abuse them, degrade them, and get put in positions of power so you can set an example for the other students.  Who’s in charge of this place, Tom Riddle?  Is that your educational goal, to set us up as enemies for life?  As if there aren’t enough problems already in the wizarding world, you encourage us to bully, to act like gangsters, you allow your pets to break the rules … I am really thinking about dropping out.  I don’t need this place.  I don’t want to be associated with those creeps.  Especially you, Lupin, leave me alone already.” 

“Please Eleutheria, don’t leave, Eli doesn’t want to be here either but she’s toughing it out.  Why don’t you ask Severus to dance?  . He is amazing, isn’t he?  But then, his mother was a dancer.  I’ll go get Albus, you should talk to him.  If you really don’t want to go back to Gryffindor we will see what we can do, I quite understand your feelings, believe it or not.  I should have done something long ago.”

They approached the table, where Eli was demonstrating how to use a Japanese folding fan in dancing.  “Eli, Eleutheria would like to know if she could borrow your partner for the next waltz.” 

“Of course,” Eli said.  “I could use a break anyway.” 

Eleutheria took Severus aside.  “You can do the Standard waltz, right?  I want to do some open moves.  Do you know how to do a promenade?” 

“you’re not going en pointe, are you?” 

“No, but I should have brought my shoes!  I would have, if I’d’ve known how good you are!  Where did you take lessons?” 

Severus smiled with his mouth, as a shadow passed over his eyes.  “My mother was a dancer, she took ballet her entire life.  When she had me she switched to teaching, ballet and ballroom, and took me along to the studio.”

  “Does she still dance?” 

“No, she stopped dancing when I was nine. Mark the steps for me, then call out the steps during the dance and don’t try anything too tricky, OK?” 

“Let’s make it look good for the VIPs, Slytherin and Griffyndor, dancing together.  Keep your eyes on me, Severus, at all times, I’ll call the steps.  I did this routine in a recital once, it knocks ‘em dead and it’s easier than it looks.”

 

Prof M waved Remus into a nearby chair.  “Eli, could I presume on you for a favor?  Would you talk to Remus?”

“Only if you stay, I want a witness.” 

“Please, Eli, I trust this young man enough to be Prefect.”  Eli rolled her eyes.  “We’ve talked about you for some time now.  Remus?” 

He cleared his throat.  “Miss le Fay, this is not an excuse, just an explanation.  I truly wish we had met under other circumstances.  When I first heard there was to be a Faerie admitted to Hogwart’s, I wanted to meet you.  On the train, I talked about you.  James and Peter said they saw you with Severus.  Sirius was the one who told us to go to your compartment.  I was horrified by what he said, but I didn’t shut him up, I didn’t stop him.  I regret that more than anything.  They accepted me, and I didn’t want to endanger my standing with them, so I was a coward and kept it to myself.  I came to realize that Severus was not deserving of the bullying we put him through; I knew you could not be such good friends with anyone bad.  I hope I’ve grown up enough to realize how unforgivable my conduct was.  Prof M tells me that I must make restitution, but I know I can’t call back the words, anymore than you can call back an arrow, and the harm done can’t be truly healed.  I hope that for the time we have left here, you and I can stop being enemies.  I don’t want your horse to give me the evil eye every time I walk by.  I really admire that horse.” 

“You owe Severus much more than a pretty apology, I’m not the one harmed, he was. You and your pals have been after him as long as he’s been here.” 

“I have written to him, I have spoken to him, and he has told me he understands why I behaved as I did and that I should beg your forgiveness; but you are terrifying when you are angry, and I lacked the nerve to face you.  I couldn’t stand up against my group even though I knew I should. I am now.  I am trying not to be a coward anymore.   I’ve told Sirius in no uncertain terms to cease and desist.” 

“Huh.  That’ll be the day.” 

The band returned to the podium, and Eleutheria dashed up to Prof M, “This is for you, Professor!” and she and Severus took up a spot directly in front of her.  “Waltz, Please, Prof Flitwick!” said Eleutheria. 

Eli idly flicked her fan.  “How lovely, Eli,” said Prof M. 

“Grandmother Morgan gave it to me, when she tried to teach me to dance.  I was never any good.  Older sister is, of course.  She can even wear kimono.  I have a hard time adapting.  It’s a lot harder than it looks, you know.   I always feel like a pet cat in doll clothes.”  

“Your technique isn’t all that bad, for a raw beginner.  I would imagine all that weapons training you do is similar.” 

“Yes, it is, now that you mention it.”  The music started up. 

“Would you dance with Remus, for me, Eli?  In the spirit of the holiday?” 

Eli grimaced.  “For you, Prof M, yes.”  She snapped shut her fan, and pulled a handkerchief, trimmed in delicate silver lace out of her beaded evening bag.  She picked up her train with the hand holding the fan, and kept the handkerchief in her hand to cover her palm as she took Remus’s hand. 

He smiled.  “Don’t trust me enough to touch your hand?  I understand.” 

“’I’d like to trust you, but you’ve got too many priors’”  His face fell.  “I know, you never said or did anything to me, directly, at least not that I was aware, but you aided and abetted your pals.  As for my horse, he knows what you are and he doesn’t like it.” 

“Thank you for keeping my secret.” 

“I think it’s an idiotic law.  We cured lycanthropy in Faerie a long time ago.  But the ministry has a total ban on all drugs, herbs, potions, etc from Faerie.  I wish I could help.”  She nodded at Severus and Eleutheria.  “Don’t they look great?” 

“I had no idea he was so talented.” 

“Neither did I, he never mentioned dancing to me.”  They danced on, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. 

He stumbled to a halt, and saw it was Sirius, who grinned and said, “Mind if I cut in?” 

Eli made a sound like a growl in her throat, her eyes sparking green fire, and she made a half turn on demi pointe, dropped her handkerchief and her train, flipped open her fan, and strode back to her table in the corner, where she swirled into a chair in a spiral of green velvet, flicking her fan in front of her face. 

Remus dropped to his knees and picked up the handkerchief and put it in the breast pocket of his dress jacket.  Dumbledore had seen what happened, and had already removed Black from the room by the time that the dance was over, and the two dancers took their bows.  Prof M praised Eleutheria and Severus, and put her arm around the girl and whispered in her ear.  They walked away as Prof S came up, holding a chalice.  Eli grabbed it and drained it. 

 

“Thanks.  I needed that.”  She went back to playing with her fan. 

“Did you get that fan from your grandmother?”  “Yes, she tried to teach me to dance, but said I was better with weapons.  She can do both, of course.  She taught me how to use a fan as a weapon, it’s not just for show.” 

Alice came prancing up to Eli, dragging Frank with her.  

"How do you like working for my dad's department, Frank?"

He grinned.  "I like it."

“So when did you learn to dance, Eli?” Alice asked.  

“About three weeks ago.  I got shanghai’d into coming.  I have been drilled by Prof M and Great Grandmother for hours every day.  My feet will never be the same.  I thought I was in shape.”  

“Look at Severus, he’s dancing with the wife of the Minister!” 

“Yeah, I told him to go out and make some useful contacts.  I don’t have to worry about getting out there and finding a job, I’m shipping out as soon as I’m done here” 

“Did you know what a good dancer Severus is?” 

“No, he never said a word about this.” 

“And that dress, where did you get it?” 

“Older Sister brought over about half a dozen dresses for me.  She has a dressmaker in Paris who made me up an evening wardrobe, as if I needed it.” 

 

 

Vivienne brought her date, the Ravenclaw seeker, Gawain Hines, over to the corner table, where Prof S hovered, making introductions to the VIPs and directing the junior students acting as waiters with trays of food and drink.  When the band took a break, Severus came to the table, and sat down next to Eli.  “Aren’t you glad I made you do this?” he smiled at her. 

“I’ll be glad when this is over.  How much longer do we have to stay?  Got to get up early tomorrow and help with the horses.  We have to get them all fed and groomed.”

 

 Dumbledore literally dragged Sirius to the Gryffindor commons room. They were closely followed by Eleutheria and Prof M, who were trailed by James, Peter and Lily.  The younger students looked up in surprise when the group entered.  Dumbledore announced to the students, “I wanted everyone in Gryffindor to know why their house just lost enough points to go from first to last place.  Mr Black decided to disrupt the Yule Party, after being warned several times to stop harassing and annoying certain other students, he chose to continue his ill mannered behavior in front of some of the most influential people in the Ministry.” 

“There was simply no excuse for your conduct, Black," Minerva said in a harsh, loud voice.  "You embarrassed this school, your friends, and you’ve been warned repeatedly.  Over the break you may wish to consider whether or not you wish to finish the term here.  You may not have a choice in the matter.  Now, Prof D and I must return to the party.  Do not leave the dorm for any reason, Black.  You are confined until we can arrange a hearing.  Does anyone know where Lupin is?  Eleutheria, if you can find him, both of you should return to the party and try to pretend nothing has happened.” 

They left, and the Gryffindors in the Commons all turned on Black.  Eleutheria grabbed him by the collar and pulled him face to face with her.  “You ruined the party for all of your friends, you upstaged me and Severus, and I’ve had it with the way you treat the women here.  All I gotta say is you better watch your step and make sure you keep your distance from me, from Eli, from Severus, and if I ever catch you out alone, you will find out what I really feel about you.  And it will be the last thing you ever learn.  I hope they kick you out.  I’m ashamed to be in the same house with you.  I’m ashamed to be in the same school as you!”  She stormed out. 

“Damned feminist bitch” he muttered. 

“SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP. SIRIUS.” barked James.  “Are you drunk?  What were you thinking?  Come on, we’re adults now, or at least some of us are, and it’s time you stopped this.  Yeah, it was fun to torment Snape when we were kids, but he’s had enough of it.  I’ve had enough of it.  Just because you want to fuck a Faerie, one who hates you more than she hates daemons, that’s no reason to keep attacking them. You think by being an asshole she’ll change her mind about you?  She’s loyal, she won’t hurt _her_ friends, and look what you just did to us.” 

Lily drew herself up.  “Your date is in her room crying her eyes out.  I heard what you said to her before she ran out.”  She turned to the girls in the room.  “Diane kept asking him to dance, and he ignored her, and finally he said, ‘I’d rather watch that fine piece of ass, look at you, you look like a scruffy pit pony next to a thoroughbred.’  I’m going to help Eleutheria find Remus.” 

“I’ll go with you,” said James.  They left. 

The remaining students surrounded Sirius.  A 5th year girl cried out, “All in favor of sending Black to Coventry, raise your hands!”  All hands were raised.  They all turned away from him and went back to what they were doing.    Black looked around him. He slowly got to his feet and slouched up to his room, where he began to pack his trunk.

Remus was discovered in the Prefect’s bathroom, huddled on a bench, holding the handkerchief as tears trickled down his face.  He looked up at them.  “What am I supposed to do?  Sirius is my friend … but he’s gone too far … I have admired Eli for so long, and she’s always avoided me because of him … I went along with his shenanigans and I should have done something a long time ago … now it’s too late.  I’ve hated listening to the way he talks about her…” 

“And all the other girls here, “ Lily added.  “but you never tell him to shut up, do you?  None of you boys ever takes the girls’ side.” 

Eleutheria said, “Yeah, it’s always ‘bros before hos with y’all.  Lucky for you most girls go along to get along with that shit.  No wonder she can’t stand any of you.” 

“I’ve noticed she avoids all Gryffindors except you, Eleutheria,” said James.  “I guess it’s because of us, since she does relate to people in the other houses.” 

“Huh.  Because she knows the way Sirius talks about her and she figures everyone else here agrees with him.  I’m leaving Hogwart’s, this was the last straw.  I’ve had to put up with so much shit from you ‘brave’ Gryffindors ganging up on Severus and saying so much shit about Eli.  As far as I can see, neither of them did anything to deserve the way you’ve treated them and I just don’t want to be associated with any of you.  Ever.  I’m really disappointed in you, Lily, you pretend to be so nice but you do nothing when your friends attack others, including your first friend.  That’s not very nice.  In America we call that being a fucking hypocrite.  I’ve never said this to or about anyone before, but I HATE ALL OF YOU.  You’re all just little Voldemort wannabes.”

Lily looked chastened.  “Sev told me when she started here, how alone she felt, because no one there could touch her mind, and no one here liked her, she is a Legilimens, after all, she knew, and most of the catcalls and hisses she had to hear came from Gryffindors.  She stopped trying to talk in class, just sat there in a corner, staring out the window most of the time.  She even took her own time to help coach students in Runes and gave riding lessons to anyone who asked, but she was treated like a pariah, we all went along with the crowd, maybe we didn’t all attack, but our silence equaled consent.  I heard her tell Prof M she felt safer alone in the Forbidden Forest than at a party with Hogwarts students, because none of the creatures hurts for the sake of causing pain.” 

Remus sniffled.  “I wish we hadn’t caused her to shut us all out, we could have learned a lot from her.  I don’t think any more Faeries will be coming here, after the way we’ve treated her.”

 Eleutheria went to the door.  “After this is over, I never want to see or speak to any of you again.  I’m going back to the party and tell Prof M why I’m leaving tonight.  I’ll send for my things.” 

When she left, James said, “what’s with her?  I’ll have to teach her a lesson, talking to you that way, Lily.” 

“No, she’s right, I have been a hypocrite.  I turned my back on my oldest friend, and I do cover up conflict, just like my mother and sister, pretend everything is fine and everyone is happy when everyone is miserable and everything is messed up.”   

Remus looked up with agonized eyes.  “Eli said they cured lycanthropy in Faerie, but you know the Ministry has banned all herbs, potions, and etc. from use in our realm.” 

James snorted.  “Those jerks in the Ministry get things wrong a lot, don’t they?”  

Lily spoke up. “We have to get back to the party, and you’re a mess.  Go wash your face in cold water, Remus.  Where did I put my comb?”  When he was cleaned up, Lily took his arm and marched resolutely out the door and headed back to the Great Hall.  James headed back to the Common room, where the students in the room told them of the vote to send Black to Coventry, and that there would be an official inquiry in Dumbledore’s office Monday morning.  He decided to go back to the party instead of seeing how Sirius was doing. 

 

By the time Eleutheria got back to the Great Hall, the mood of the party was less formal, and students, staff, and VIPs were mingling freely.  The dance floor was crowded, and the mead was flowing.  Vivienne, Alice, and their dates had joined Eli in the corner.  When the band took a break, Severus went to the table and sat down next to Eli.  Alice grinned.  “Dancing with the Minister’s wife, eh, Severus?” 

“Of course, how could I refuse?  Now, aren’t you glad you came, Eli?” 

“I’m glad it’s almost over.  How soon can we leave?” 

“Soon.” 

Eleutheria sought out Prof M and they left the Hall.  She briefly outlined what had happened, then said, “I’m leaving tonight.  I’m going to stay at the Inn in Hogsmeade tonight.  I will send an elf for my things.” 

“Eleutheria, don’t act in haste.” 

“In haste?  I’ve been complaining to you about those punks for years now, ever since Eli first came here.  And after what Potter did last year before the OWLS and you did nothing to those creeps, well, that was when I really decided to get the hell out of this dump.  I don’t know what you think you’re doing, allowing this sort of abuse in a SCHOOL, of all places.  I’ll be sure and write up a report and send copies to the Ministry, who don’t care, and the College of Druids, who will.  I want no part of this place anymore.  I’m an American Witch.  This isn’t the way we treat others where I’m from.” 

“I’m sorry you feel this way, your parents were both Gryffindors …” 

“Yes, I know, but they’d be the first ones to tell me to do something about it.  I can’t just stand by and watch when others are attacked unjustly.  I’ve had to listen to them talking trash about Eli and Severus, and you know what?  At first I believed them about him, until she came and I got to know him.  He’s got a beautiful soul, and the creatures at the farm and in the forest like him.” 

 

Minerva patted her on the shoulder.  “I guess we tend to be stableblind, when we run a house, we see our students as being better than the others.” 

“Eli and I have talked about this and we agree that dividing into competing houses may not be at all beneficial and could create problems, and it has, when the competitiveness gets out of hand.” 

“Yes, I’ve read those papers she’s written, and her father has published a great deal of psychohistorical research.  I noticed how different Severus is when he’s on the farm.  He stands taller, he smiles, he doesn’t have that haunted presence.”   She looked over to where Eli and Severus were dancing.  “It’s no secret his home life isn’t pleasant or comfortable, he’s had to overcome a lot of disadvantages.  I just hope that Eli and her family have been able to help him compensate sufficiently to make up for the harm done.  Well, here come Lily and James, I’ll get them to keep their distance, don’t be too hard on Remus, now.  We may be able to switch houses, it has been done but very rarely.  I admire you for taking a stand, and not going along with the crowd.” 

“If I’d known I could switch houses I’d be a Hufflepuff now,” said Eleutheria.  “They’re nice to everyone, really nice, not just to your face.”+

Minerva strode across the hall to James and Lily.  “I expect you to behave properly.  You are to stay away from Eli, Severus and Eleutheria, you are not to discuss them, defame them, or even mention them, for the rest of your time at Hogwart’s.  This is Conduct Unbecoming, Potter, Evans, and you will be held accountable.  If you wish to introduce yourself to the VIPs I cannot stop you but I will not introduce you, because right now, I just don’t want to look at you, I’m  ashamed that I am your house leader.” 

She turned around, went to the entrance, where she snagged Remus’s arm and walked him to the high table.  “Good recovery,”  she whispered to Remus.  “She’s not mad at you, don’t worry.”  “Can I stay here over break?,”  Remus asked.  “I’d like to get started on my courses early, spend some time in the library with no distractions.”  She nodded. 

When the Minister and his wife got up to leave, Severus said to Eli, “Now we can go.  We have to say goodbye to everyone of course.  Smile.  You survived.” 

They got up as Prof S came to the table.  “I’ve sent for your coach, Eli, it should be at the door in a few minutes.  Thank you again for being here against your wishes, and Severus, thank you for your help convincing her.” 

They slowly crossed the room, stopping to chat briefly with students who hailed them.  “Why are they being so nice to me?” 

“Because you’re the star tonight, Eli.  You are the most beautiful being here, and they all want to have your light shine on them.  All the women wish they looked like you, and all the men wish you were with them.  You pulled it off, Eli.  Victory is yours.” 

“I hope I did you some good.”  “You don’t know how much,” he smiled.  They picked up their cloaks and went out the doors into the night.  Large, crystalline flakes of snow were beginning to drift down.   They were there less than a minute when Nils stopped for them.  Severus handed her up, then joined her. 

They were watched by Lily and James  from above.  She smiled.  “Be happy, Sev,” she said softly. 

“Mission accomplished,” whispered James.  “Now it’s up to her.” 

 

 

Remus went back to Gryffindor Tower and went straight to the room where James, Peter, and Sirius were sitting on the bed, drinking from a brown bottle.  “Hey, Moony, sorry I spoiled your little dance with the Faerie whore.  If she’ll fuck Snape she’ll fuck anything so maybe you do have a chance with her.”

He stood up to hand the bottle to Remus, who smashed him in the jaw with a perfect uppercut.  Black went down, then got to his feet.  Remus put his entire weight into a jab to the stomach, then when Sirius was doubled over, put him back on the floor with an uppercut and then a roundhouse left. 

Remus glowered at him, “Don’t ever talk shit about either of them, Black.  I’m glad they can find some happiness with each other.”  He stalked out of the room. 

Peter picked up the fallen bottle and shook it.  He drained the remaining contents.  James pulled Sirius to his feet.  “You know he’s always fancied her, but she wouldn’t talk to him because of us.  Same thing with Lily; they’ve tried to approach Eli when they were alone, but she’d always manage to see ‘em coming and get away.” 

Sirius rubbed his jaw.  “I guess I did ruin his chances with her. I knew she wouldn’t touch me but I couldn’t stand to see anyone else get him- I mean-her; pretty much drove her into Snape’s arms, didn’t I?” 

“I helped,” said James.  “I’m going to be with Lily.”  He left. 

 

Eli shut her eyes and leaned back in the seat cushions.  “Oh, I am so glad that is over.  Dumbledore told me to ask you to tell me the story of the ‘Fountain of Fair Fortune’ sometime.”  She opened her eyes.  “Severus, what’s wrong?  You’re crying, did I do something wrong?” 

“no,  it’s me.  I wish I knew what’s wrong with me.“

Eli sighed.  “I know how you feel about _her_.  She’s your number one.  I know that.  I could be your number two.” 

“Don’t tease me.  It’s hard enough to be around you, this close to you now, looking the way you do tonight.” 

“Why would I try with you, you’ve never shown any interest in me that way.” 

“I was terrified of doing anything … in case you didn’t want me.” 

“You were wrong.  I was always available, but I knew how you felt about _her_ , and so I didn’t want to approach you, because I was afraid I would drive you away.  I can’t replace _her_ , I know that.  But I’m here for you if you ever want anything from me.” 

“Anything?”

“Yes.” 

“Tonight?” 

“Yes.  I should warn you, my knowledge is entirely theoretical.” 

“You mean you haven’t?”  “No.”  “why not?  You’re seventeen, you could have gone this year to the Beltane fires.” 

“I didn’t go.  Never found anyone I wanted more than you, Severus.  I thought you knew how I felt.”

“I guess I’ve been waiting for an opening.” 

“But you never gave me any reason to hope.  I’m shipping 0ut in a few months and I don’t want to go a virgin.  It’s tough, I can’t make any commitments and I don’t want to be with just anyone.   I kept hoping you’d show some interest.” 

“How can you not know how I feel about you?” 

“I never … I couldn’t … I was scared to look inside that part of you to know for sure, in case you didn’t.”

“How could I _not_ want you?  How could _you_ want _me_?  I didn’t want you to think I was like Black , I didn’t want you to stop being my friend .”

She looked in his eyes.  “That’s not all, is it?  You think that if you touch me, it means you don’t love _her_.  I can’t replace _her_ and if she ever changed _her_ mind about you, I’d get out of the way, I’d dance at your wedding, but _she’_ s not with you, _I_ am, _she’s_ with someone else.  All I want is what you can spare, hell, I probably won’t come back and you won’t have to worry about me messing up your love life.   Getting involved with other soldiers doesn’t work, it detracts from the mission, and not many people want to get emotionally involved with someone who _may_ die and _will_ come back with the ‘howling horrors.’”

She reached in between the seat cushions and pulled out a bottle, removed the stopper, and drank. “I’m really blowing this, aren’t I? It’s the hormones, this time of life is very confusing, you’re the best friend I have. I don’t want to mess that up. I know I come on too strong, I’m not at all girly and I scare boys. I want to let you know I’m available to you, no strings attached; no pretty lies, don’t tell me you love me or anything like that. I’ve spent too much time on this side of the mists, and I haven’t formed any normal attachments to my own kind, that’s what Older Sister says. I do not want to be a virgin anymore.”

She took a long drink out of the bottle. Severus gently removed the bottle from her hand and drank.

“It is confusing. When I met you I wanted you to be my sister, so you’d never go away. When we started learning together, I didn’t want to share you with anyone. I don’t know when I started having, uh, feelings for you.” He took another drink. “You don’t know how many times, when we were out at concerts, where I wanted to do something , and those long nights working on spells, oh, how I wanted to. There are ways of controlling these feelings, but I don’t want to anymore. Not tonight. I just … I just can’t believe you would want me.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t … I know what I look like.”

“You don’t know what I see when I look at you, Severus.” “Look at me? This hideous beak, my only legacy from my father? My pasty skin? Greasy hair?”

“Maybe I’m the only one who sees what you really are. Your skin is like alabaster. Your eyes so deep I could drown in them. Your voice makes me shiver, your lips so wondrously carved, your hands so expressive; how I have longed for those hands on me. “ she smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair. “OK, your hair could benefit from better shampoo and a trim but I like it.” She brushed his hair from his face. “Even though you hide behind it. And your nose, yes, it is large, but it suits you very well, it’s strong, like your character. Besides, if you had a cute little nose you’d be prettier than me!”

She gazed into his eyes. “You don’t believe me.” She bent over and kissed his forehead. He felt a wave of unknown emotions wash over his body. “Look at what I see, my prince,” Eli breathed. “I can see your soul shine.”

He felt his body shift and he could see himself, as he had never seen himself in a mirror. He was inside her body looking down. His face glowed as if from within. Eli exhaled and he felt himself shift back into his body. The coach pulled up to the stable and they got out.

“Go finish that bottle upstairs,” said Nils, “I’ll put up the horses.” Eli and Severus ascended the spiral staircase into the loft. Eli went to a shelf near the altar and took down two carved rock crystal cups, which she filled with the hashish wine from the bottle. She handed one to him.

“I have to get all this metal and rock off me,” Eli said, sitting down at the table in front of a mirror. She took off the earrings, the bracelet, the ring and put them on a square of silk. Severus came over, drained his glass, and began to remove the diamond hairpins securing the coronet in her hair. “Excuse me, this thing has been cutting into my ribs all night,” she said, reaching into her bodice and releasing the catch to the strapless padded bra. She pulled it off, and tossed it aside. “I’ve got armor more comfortable than that.” She took off the pearl necklace and removed the moonstone amulet, and put it back on its usual chain, securing it around her neck.

Severus picked the mistletoe coronet off of her head and looked at it closely. “Amazing piece of work. It must be very old.” Eli smiled, stood up, took the coronet, placed it on his head, then kissed him on the lips. He felt a surge of power run up and down his body and his knees got weak. Eli carefully put the coronet on the pile of jewelry in front of the mirror. She removed Severus’s coat and draped it over a chair.

“Don’t overthink this. Don’t think at all. Just let your body do what it will.” She slowly unbuttoned his shirt, and ran her hands along his chest and back. “The more of you I touch the more I can feel your thoughts … the more you touch me the more excited I get” Severus grabbed his wand and waved it around them, and as their clothing fell away he guided her to the bed, where they collapsed, and all rational thought ended for both of them.

His last conscious thought was something he’d overheard Takeshi tell Albus, how a Faerie woman can make a man feel, and how dangerous, and wonderful, this could be for both. Eli was impressed with his disrobing spell. She’d wondered how you get out of your clothes at a moment like this.

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When they went to the stables later that morning, JeanneMarie was in the tack room with Nils the Nisse, his cousins and some of the house elves from Hogsmeade residences.  “there’s enough snow falling so I am going to use the sleigh, with a troika hitch,” she said.  The train is arriving in an hour, get the grey Arabs  ready for the first shift.” 

They went to the stalls and groomed the horses, fetched the harness, and got the sleigh out. 

“You never notice how much work the elves do until they get a day off,” Eli said.  Our job will get easier when some of the kids get here, they always want to be around the horses and help out.” 

About noon, the limosine arrived with Takeshi, Emerald, and Eileen Snape.   Takeshi went to the stable and the two women went into the house.  

“Grandmother told me about your dancing, Eli, Severus.  Are you going to show us?  Did your mother teach you?” 

Severus’s face clouded over.  He scowled.  “She took me with her to the studio,” 

Eli looked at him in distress.  “Until the day he beat you both,”  Eli said, under her breath.  “That’s why she had to quit, wasn’t it?  He started beating you that day … because you were dancing.” 

“How did you know?” 

“You just told me.  Not with words, Severus.” 

Takeshi put his hand on Severus’s shoulder.  “Emerald knew as soon as she saw you and your mother, you can’t keep secrets from a Faerie.    I think I hear the Usual Suspects approaching.  I must go get the musicians set up.’ 

 

Vivienne, Frank and Alice entered the stable, carrying overnight bags and Morrigan in her Hermes carrying bag.  “Go drop off your bags, put on your riding clothes and come down, tell me the gossip about last night.” 

“Oh, you won’t believe what happened,” Alice said.

Eli looked at Severus.  “You know there was an incident last night, while you were doing your act with Eleutheria.  I didn’t think you’d seen it.” 

“No, I was watching her and trying to keep up.” 

“Yeah, well, Prof M made me talk to Lupin, and I actually danced with him at her request.  That asshole Black tried to cut in.  So, I left the floor, did a Bette Davis turn, right in front of all the VIPs and Slughorn. Dumbledore dragged Black off, that’s the last I saw of him.  He’d been warned you see.  a couple of months ago, he tried to dose me with some kind of cheap “love potion” and he’d been told to never try to have any contact with me.  Lupin said he was keeping Black under control but I don’t think anyone can.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Because it was handled by D and M, they made him DRINK IT, he was sick for a week.”  She laughed.   “And last night, I guess we can say that we made _the_ scene and he made _a_ scene.  What a jackass.”

 “You two are the heroes of Slytherin … Dumbledore gave Gryffindor enough demerits to put them in last place and that means Slytherin will probably win the House Cup.  There is going to be a hearing Monday morning, he might be expelled!  Gryffindor voted to send him to Coventry, with only three abstentions and that wretched Pettigrew even signed!”

“I hope they won’t make me show up at the hearing,” Eli said.  “I don’t like being in the same room with that perv.” 

“I think he was drunk,” said Alice. 

“That’s no excuse,” said Severus.  He turned to Eli.  “You told them about the potion and not me?” 

“It wouldn’t have worked anyway, Black sucks at potions and the one he made would not have the effect he wanted, especially not on me.” 

“You know what he said in potions class?  He didn’t see me, he told Potter that you must have brewed Eli a love potion, that would be the only reason ‘anything that fine would have anything to do’ with you,” said Vivienne, “so it was OK for him to do the same.” 

“So you narc’ed him out?”  She smiled.

 

The sound of the sleigh bells rang through the snowflakes and the horses pulled into the yard.  Eli and Severus unhitched the team and put their cooling blankets on them, and handed them off to three of the children who had gathered in the tack room.  As the children walked the horses up and down the aisle, Eli led three black Friesians in harness and hitched them to the sleigh.  Jeanne-Marie showed her chestnut to Prof M, who had come to the stable with Emerald.  Vivienne and Alice fed chocolates to Yojimbo. 

“So, who wants to ride Yojimbo?  Alice?  Minerva, you used to compete in Eventing, you should ride my pony here.  He’s the fastest horse in Faerie and he can jump anything.  His name is Secretariat, after the Terran horse.  Everyone else, groom and saddle the horse you want to ride.”

 

Eli and Severus took the greys from the children and finished cooling them down, then groomed them, put them away, and wiped down the harness before hanging it up.  The group set out to Hogsmeade.  Eleutheria  arrived, with Prof S.  “Sorry to be late, but we had to deal with some Issues,” said the Professor.  Eleutheria went to the tack room to give Nils a present. 

Eli was showing the horses to Horace when she came back.  “I’m trying to get Nils to send out one of his apprentices to our farm on Mount Shasta.  You have to come visit, Eli.  You’ll be right across the Pacific when you join your unit, you can catch a junk to the West Coast, take the Coast Starlight to San Francisco and go see the bands play.” 

“You want to ride?” 

“No, I can’t stay very long, I have to get back home, my family is having the Solstice Vigil at our place and I have to be there to help.  Lucky for me that I can race the sun back to the mountain.  It means my Long Night will be really long, though!”  She looked around, saw Severus grooming a horse and then whispered in Eli’s ear, “So you and Snape finally got together, eh?”

Eli smiled.  “I wouldn’t want to kiss and tell.” 

“You don’t have to.  I saw the way he looked at you.  The thing is, just about everyone at school thinks you two have been going at it for a long time.  I’ve had to listen to Lupin whimpering about you for years.  And that Black … I may not be coming back, I am considering dropping out.  I picked a fight with those creeps and told Dumbledore I want to drop out, he and Prof M want me to switch houses, and I’m considering it, but this was the last straw.  I don’t know how you put up with it for so long, and poor Severus!  I’ve had it with Magonagall, I’ve been telling her for years about what jerks they are, and she covers for them.”

  “I hope you stay, I need all the friends I have,” said Eli.  “If they can get you in another house or let you live off campus, you’re seventeen now.  Maybe even stay here?  We have plenty of room.” 

“If they let me move in with Alice that would be nice, she’s Prefect and has a great room of her own.  You know, most of my friends are Hufflepuffs.”

“I’ll stay in touch with you over break, I can come by your place and we can use the Shasta gate to go to Faerie and then come here, if you decide to stay, it’s just a few more months.  I don’t have enough friends as it is, I can’t afford to lose one.” 

 

Albus walked up to them.  “Jones, as of this moment, you are a Hufflepuff and your things have been moved to Addington’s room.  Prof Sprout is sorry to hear about the problems you’ve been having and she agrees with you about the lack of supervision in Gryffindor.  The entire staff hopes you will return, and I assure you steps will be taken,” 

“Too little, too late,” growled Eli.  “I am not returning to any classes with any of them.  Either allow me to take the courses on an independent study basis, or allow me to drop those classes and I’ll do the NEWTS based on what I know now.  I think I can keep up with my classes without attending them, well, probably not Potions.  It’s not like these tests matter to me, since I shall never work for or with the Ministry in any capacity.  I’ve still got years of study ahead of me, we Fey believe that education never ends, and right now, I need to focus on my military training.  I will, of course, continue with the Runes study group and riding lessons.” 

“Minerva is sorry about what happened, and she said Eleutheria was right.  You know she was disappointed when you didn’t get in Gryffindor.” 

“Actually, that’s where the hat wanted to put me right away, and I said no. That’s why the long hatblock.  I’d met those assholes on the train, so you can tell her that if she had gotten them under control in their first year, I probably would have been a Gryffindor.  I knew I had to stick by Severus, he needed my help, he needed a friend close by because of them.  You knew about it, you didn’t stop them either.  Maybe that’s the way you do things here, but that’s not the way we do things where I was born.” 

“That’s what I told Prof M,” said Eleutheria.  Albus smiled sadly at her. 

“I know.  This was not the first time that I allowed students to get out of control and harm others.”

 

Emerald asked Eli and Severus to go to see Great Grandmother in the Morning Room, “and take the garden path to the side entrance,” she added, looking at their boots.  When they got to the room, used as an office, Great Grandmother was joined by Eileen Snape, Grandfather and Grandmother Morgan, Emerald and Takeshi.  The elder dame smiled at Severus. 

“Now that you’re about the graduate, we’d like to help you get started in life, by helping us out.  This estate is entailed to the eldest female, and if there is no female, the eldest male holds it in trust.  Masumi, Gwydion’s daughter, must stay on her mountain, so Jeanne-Marie is my heir, with Takeshi acting in her interests because of the second class legal status of the Fey.  Essentially, under Ministry law, the Fey do not have the same rights and need someone Terran to act as proxy.  Takeshi will be leaving to return to the Pacific Rim in the near future, so we’d like to ask you to join our family.  If you are willing, Jeanne-Marie will adopt you as her younger brother.  When I die, she will be the head of the family, and if you are her younger brother, you can act in her interests.  She’ll own the real property, half of the estate, and you have an equal share of the estate as Eli.  It just makes the paperwork a lot easier.  You know everyone in the family feels you are a part of us already, this will make it official.  And it makes you financially independent.” 

Grandfather Morgan smiled at Severus.  “There is a wonderful ceremony on the mountain, if you and your mother agree, we can go there and perform it the day after tomorrow.  the hotsprings are delightful in the winter.  You know I grew up here, but the mountain is my home.  I knew that when I met you, my love,” he said, taking his wife’s hand. 

Eileen smiled at her son. 

“I don’t know what to say,” he said. 

“’Thank you’ might be nice,” said his mother. 

 

At sundown all of the horses had been fed, groomed, and were left to their party.  Eli and Severus went to the loft, where the girls were examining her wardrobe and digging through trunks of clothing found in the attic.  “Our last Yule as students,”  Vivienne said with a sigh. “I wonder where we’ll be next year.” 

“Here, I hope,” said Alice.  I love the farm.  You can get leave for the holidays, can’t you, Eli?” 

“It depends on what’s going on.  If there’s fighting or some kind of disaster I have to be there, but otherwise, it’s not a problem.  When I’m not training or on active duty I’ve got to get started with my studies at the College of Druids, old soldiers end up teaching or writing or singing on the road with bards.  I have to write up my evaluation of Hogwart’s educational standards, and what I observed about Terrans.” 

“I’m hoping to get accepted into the Auror training program,” said Alice.  “I think you’ll get in, your scores were excellent,” said Vivienne.  “I’m not sure what I want to do yet.”  “Now, what shall we wear tonight.”

 

 Severus and Frank got cleaned up and went out the studio doors to the house.  They were met by Takeshi, who took them up to his old room under the eaves.  “I’m glad you two got to meet.  There aren’t many people I can trust anymore.  Things are past the tipping point.  Riddle and his pals are getting bolder.  Careful around your friends in Slytherin, Severus, they’ve fallen for Salazar’s Folly.  I’m going to Tibet, all hell is about to break loose.  The daemons got the Ch’in to get some nuclear weapons, according to our intelligence.  I’m wrapping things up at the Ministry, my reports are written,  all my paperwork is in order.  I’m not telling anyone there until it’s time to go.  Frank, things are worse than we’ve discussed and you know who I’m talking about, the rot is everywhere.  Severus, if I don’t come back you’ll be needed here.  Jeanne-Marie is going to turn it into an embassy, and we’re officially reopening the hill gate.  The Farm will be neutral territory and the Ministry has no authority over anything or anyone here.”  He smiled.  “She’s planning on opening a free medical clinic for all creatures great and small at the entrance.  That’s my daughter!  She’s going to help evacuate creatures to Faerie in the endangered species program.”

“When are you leaving?” 

“Not really sure, probably in a couple of months.  Right now the Black Turtles are infiltrating, and the Red Phoenixes are flying reconnaissance missions.  Then the Azure Dragons and White Tigers move in. 

“The problem with the Ministry is the underlying concept of Guilty Until Proven Innocent, and the insane Code of Silence,   It’s like in the Burning Times, you have to prove you’re _not_ a Death Eater, and who’s going to believe a Death Eater?   As if you _could_ prove the Null Hypothesis.  It’s not that Riddle is as great as he thinks he is, he’s just in the right place at the right time.  That’s psychohistory for you!  Things keep repeating, the chaos turns into the same pattern we saw before.

“Now, you gentlemen had best go get the ladies and make an entrance into the party downstairs.”  He signaled to Severus to stay.  After Frank left, he said, “I know I can rely on you to look out for my ladies if anything happens to me.  Let them take care of you, son.”  He put his arms around Severus’s shoulders, hugged him,  and they walked down the stairs.

 

The ladies had been smoking hashish as they adorned each other.  Older Sister joined them and was directing their efforts.  They raided the stash of clothing in the attic with the help of Cordelia.  Alice wore a pearly white Duchesse satin gown, artfully draped, pearls dripping around her neck, with the mistletoe coronet on her head because “You’re the prettiest tonight, Alice,”  declared Older Sister.  “So you get to wear the crown.” 

Eli wore a black taffeta dress, quite revealing, covered with sparkling black beadwork on the bodice with long dangling bead fringes forming a knee length skirt.  She wore the diamond snake bracelet wrapped around her upper arm, the ruby ring, and a diamond headband holding a phoenix feather aigrette.  She had over her shoulders an oversized heavy silk floss shawl that matched the colors of the phoenix feathers.

  Vivienne shimmered in a cloth of gold sheath. 

The group went to the house, to the sound of a Faerie band. The table had been removed from the Great Hall to allow dancing.  Severus smiled at Eli.  “Won’t everyone be surprised to see you dancing, Eli.” 

“I hope your mother likes it.” 

“I think she will be amazed that I remember everything she taught me.”  `

 

They made their way through the people, stopping to chat frequently, until they got to where Cordelia was sitting, dressed in her best holiday regalia.  “I notice you are both wearing dance shoes.  Are you going to show us your routine?”  she asked them.  “Then you should dance all the rest with your mother, Severus.  I’ve noticed how she hasn’t danced yet at any of my parties, and we all loved to watch her, she was so graceful, so elegant.”

He nodded.  “I’ll ask her.” 

“you know you are the only thing that’s kept her going all these years, Severus.” 

“I know.  If it hadn’t been for me she wouldn’t have married him, and she would still be dancing.” 

Cordelia got up and hugged him.  “Oh, my lad, don’t think that way.  She always wanted a big family.  When they first met as children, I almost hoped she and Takeshi would get together, but when he met Emerald, that was it for him, and he fulfilled the prophecy we’ve been waiting here for so long.  I agree with your grandfather, she should have never married him!”

She pulled himover to the sofa and sat next to him.  “Eli, you go mingle for a while, I want to talk to Severus.”

“How do you know my grandfather?” he asked. 

“Oh, my dear, I know everyone worth knowing, and some not worth knowing.  I used to travel a lot and visited him many times.  I know your grandmother, too.  She was a dancer, they met at the Mayfair dance on the hilltop.  She didn’t have a maternal bone in her body, and knew your mother would be better off with her father, but insisted your mother attend Hogwart’s.  She was always on the road, dancing, made a very good living at it.  All she ever did for her child was send money.  That ended when she married a Muggle, you know.  Your grandfather could not and would not leave his library, and he couldn’t tolerate the climate of these damp isles.  So, your mother got bounced back and forth, and she wanted what she hadn’t had, a stable family life.  She didn’t get it.  She stuck it out, she honored the bargain she had made, and let’s face it, your father needs her more than she needs him.  You’re of age now.  It’s time for her to move on, so help her.”

Albus and Minerva approached them, each bearing two cups of wassail.  When they had all shared a toast, Cordelia signaled to the musicians in the gallery, and stood up.  Everyone in the hall stopped talking and turned to her.  “We have a special treat tonight.  My greatgranddaughter Eli finally learned how to dance, and she will now demonstrate her new skill.  If you would please clear the center floor, please.’     +

Severus got up and went to the center of the cleared space.  Eli made a dramatic entrance, leaping like Nijinski in the opening of Le Spectre de la Rose, while using the shawl like a cape, tossing it aside as she landed.  She did a reverence to Severus as the music began.  Cordelia led Eileen to her sofa and they sat together watching the two do their dance.  Eileen’s face was frozen at first as she stared at her son.  She was astonished at how well he danced.  She had seen his talent at a very early age.  His body was long and flexible, he had a beautiful line, and his musicality was beyond belief.  She flashed back to the day, eight years before, when Tobias had come home drunk, saw them dancing  together, and for the first time beat her unconscious.  She had no idea what provoked this.  All she remembered was waking up on the floor as Severus was wiping her face with a damp washcloth, washing the blood away.  His nose was bleeding, his lip torn, and she could see bruises forming on his neck. 

Cordelia gave her a silver pipe of opiated Faerie hashish.  “Here, dear.  It’s Yule.  Forget the past.” 

Eileen inhaled the fragrant vapors.  Her mood instantly elevated.  She looked at the couple.  Eli had finally grown out of her coltish adolescence, and her long muscled body in the skimpy dress was shown to its best advantage in the fast moves of the dance.  She noted that Eli’s technique was spotty, but her spirit and natural grace and unusual beauty made up for it.  Eileen smiled.  Her son had not told her that they had finally consummated their relationship the night before.  She knew.  She was overjoyed; as long as she had known Eli this is what she had hoped for.  His obsession with the Evans girl had distressed her when it became clear the feelings were not requited, nor deserved, in her opinion.

The couple finished the dance in front of Cordelia’s sofa.  After the applause had died down and the band restarted, Severus held out his hand to his mother and they took to the floor.  Albus and Cordelia joined them,  and the band played on into the longest night. 

 

The moon was still in the sky when Eli and Severus returned to the loft.  Vivienne was in the house, listening to the Faerie musicians playing the night away.  Alice and Frank were still in the studio, curled up on a futon, watching Black Narcissus.  Severus bent over and kissed the nape of her neck, his hair falling over her neck and shoulders.  She shivered and her breath got faster.  “Vivienne is fascinated with your cousin the drummer, she’s always been Fey curious.  Frank and Alice don’t want to be disturbed,” he whispered.  He pulled her to her feet and ran his hands under her clothes. 

“I don’t want to disturb them, either.” she whispered, and walked him over to the bed, jumped on it, pulled him down, then shut the curtains.  She waved her athame to create a silence spell around the bed.  “You know that Faeries are very sensitive, the nerve endings in our skin react strongly to stimuli.   That’s why I have to keep my distance from people I don’t like, because any contact with them makes me want to either leave or kill them.   With you, it doesn’t take much to get my motor running, so watch it. There is something else you should know.  When we are connected, I can feel what you’re feeling, I am in your mind and feel both of us.”

“No wonder last night was so effortless, you were inside me as well as you.  I wish I could do that.” 

“I can show you.”  She kissed his third eye. He felt his body shifting. “when your hair brushes against me I get weak in the knees.  When you breathe on me my brain shuts down and all the blood drains to my lower chakras.  Then my hands start transmitting back, like this,” she said, and ran her hands up and down his spine.  “then we let the feedback loop build until the inevitable cascade.”  And so they did.   Severus began to understand what Takeshi meant about Faerie women.

 

 

Lily and Pettigrew left with the rest of the students the next day.  Sirius said he didn’t want her there and Pettigrew said he had urgent family business.  Remus did not show up at all that day, and James went to Hogsmeade to get more aqua vitae.  Sirius spent most of the day pacing up and down the room. 

Prof M spoke to Remus Monday at breakfast, where staff and the dozen or so students remaining on campus ate at a single table.  “How are your friends doing? 

“I don’t know.  I haven’t spoken to them since the night of the party.  I spent all day yesterday in the forest.  Looking for a unicorn.  Or something more deadly so I wouldn’t have to look at myself in the mirror.  He’s my friend, but I hate what he’s done.” 

“Remus, people mature at different rates.  The responsibility is mine, I should have intervened long ago.  There have been a lot of complaints about the conflict between your group and Eli and Severus, none of which, I should mention, were filed by them, but by other students and staff who witnessed the incidents.  I guess it’s easier to pretend it’s just students playing pranks, that no one is getting hurt, that it’s part of growing up, and they’ll get over it.  We _want_ to believe that.  But look at you.  You’re collateral damage.”

Remus looked down, blinking rapidly, and his voice quavered slightly. “Ever since she came here, I wanted to get to know her.  But I went along with them and didn’t say anything when Sirius said some things he shouldn’t have.  Like I went along with James when he attacked Severus, from the very beginning.  We were bullies.  No, I was a coward.  I knew it was wrong.  I started following her around, trying to talk to her alone, but she always seems to know she’s being followed, and she moves so fast.  She’s … she’s … she’s amazing, she’s a force of nature, like a hurricane, she’s a goddess.” 

“Your infatuation with her was noted, but you respected her, you didn’t force any attention on her, she just didn’t want anything to do with you because of your friends.  You didn’t try to give her a love potion.  Why didn’t you report Sirius for that?” 

“I didn’t know about it, he never told me, but James and Peter knew.”  He looked into her eyes.  “You trusted me enough to make me prefect, and I let you down.  I thought loyalty was important, but you can’t be loyal to anyone doing things you know are wrong, it makes you a part of it.  I should have tried to stop him, or at least let him know I wouldn’t go along with it.” 

She looked pointedly at the abrasions on his knuckles.  “Did he get it this time?”  “That was partly for Diane and all the other girls.  He goes after the girls here like a dog running sheep, rips out their guts and leaves ‘em there.” 

“I know,” said Prof M in a harsh voice.  “It’s a hard lesson for women to learn, some don’t survive it.  Did it ever occur to you that the reason Sirius kept harassing her was to make sure you never had a chance to get to know her?” 

“yeah,” he said in a whisper, “it did.” 

“Jealousy is a very powerful motivator.  He had to keep the two of you separated because he knew about your feelings for her, and he didn’t want to share you.”  She refilled her coffee cup. Remus looked at her, and began to blush, realizing she knew of their involvement.  “Oh, don’t be so uptight, this is nothing new, so he’s like Julius Caesar, ‘a husband to every woman and a wife to every man.’ He is promiscuous with women, but with men, you’re his only one.  So of course he’s jealous, she’s the first girl you ever showed an interest in.  We should head for Albus’s office now.” 

 

They headed up the stairs at the same time Sirius and James left the dorm.  Albus and Horace were waiting.  There was a stack of parchments on the table in front of Albus.  “Sit down.  We’ll keep this brief.  This is a list of complaints from students and faculty regarding your behavior towards Eli le Fey and Severus Snape.  You were warned twice before, and after the incident the day of the OWL exam you were told explicitly to cease and desist.” 

Prof M spoke, “The fault is mine for not correcting your behavior sooner.  I like you boys, so I preferred to downplay the harm done.  Miss le Fey came to me after that … _incident_ in an absolute rage, no, I’d say it was righteous wrath.  As you know, she was forced to take her OWLs in the early morning, alone, since there were those in the Ministry who were ‘concerned’ that her abilities would allow cheating.  So you knew she wouldn’t be there; not even you, Potter, are that reckless, to attack her friend if she were there to even the odds.  She wanted to leave Hogwart’s that very day, lest she lose control and do irreparable harm to both of you, called in her father, oh, she is so like her father, always standing up for the oppressed.   That was a horrible thing to do, completely unforgivable, Potter.  You _should_ have been severely punished after that.  Eli agreed to stay; Takeshi managed to convince her not to go back to Faerie and to stand by her friend instead.” 

She looked at Sirius, with a deep frown.  “Takeshi and I were classmates, and he was one of the finest, noblest, and gifted of wizards.  He was very popular with the girls, but he never took advantage of this popularity.  I realize that times have changed and sexual mores are considerably more relaxed than they were then, but really, Black, your conduct is unbecoming a wizard and a gentleman.  Don’t you think I keep track of my girls?  Don’t you think I’ve heard them cry?  They are so shamed by you they won’t let me take action, because they don’t want everyone to know how gullible they were.  And of course, you don’t keep your ‘conquests’ a secret, and those poor girls end up miserable when the gossip gets back to them.  I’ve let you get over on me, but your charm has lost its mojo, Black.  It won’t work on me anymore.” 

 

Prof D:  “All Eli had to say about what we should do to you is, and I quote, “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do to him, just as long as I never have to look at him or speak to him ever again.’   She will be taking her classes on an independent study basis so she will not be in any classes with any of you.  She pointed out that it might not be in the Ministry’s best interest to have a hearing about your conduct over your years here, lest the parents of the girls you have used made aware of your behavior, and the school made to look as though this was condoned.   The times are changing, and women are less likely to suffer in silence when they are being harassed.  She submitted a written proposal for a new rule regarding student conduct, and we are introducing it when the students return next month.  This new rule is to be named in your honor, at her insistence.  That is to be your legacy here, Black.  You will not be expelled, you will be allowed to graduate, but you cannot attend any extracurricular activities, including but not limited to graduation, social gatherings, Quiddich matches, etc.  You are to have no contact with Eli le Fey, you will immediately cease and desist any and all attempts to defame or degrade Severus Snape, you will not talk to them or of them.  The imposition of Coventry imposed on you by your House members will stand, since all but three signed the petition.  You would not be advised to use any of the staff of Hogwart’s as references, since they are all in agreement that your conduct was unbecoming of a Hogwart’s student, and some feel that your behavior rises to the level of criminal liability.  I should also point out to you that if she ever encounters you off campus, she is legally permitted, under our law and Faerie law, to call you out in a duel to the death, and she would win.  You would not stand a chance against her.  She has been trained to slay daemons.  The Yokai on Torayama have danced in her honor.  She is able to call upon powers you can’t even dream of, my young friends.  If you value your lives, you will not antagonize her in any way in the future.  I won’t hold her back anymore.  One more thing, Black.  You received this letter, signed by everyone in Slytherin, thanking you for your help in making sure they will win the House Cup this year, by removing your own house from the running.  You tried to turn Severus Snape into a pariah.  Let’s see how much you like being one yourself.”

 

The three of them left and walked down the hall in silence.  Finally Black said, “I really was an asshole, wasn’t I?” 

“You still are, and you shouldn’t get upset when you choose to be an asshole and someone tells you so.  You don’t like being treated like the biggest asshole in Great Britain, STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE,” snarled Lupin.

  Black stopped in his tracks and stared at him.  He dropped his head and muttered, “you’ve got a point there, my friend.” 

“So, everyone to my place!”  said Potter. 

“I’m staying here over break,” said Lupin, and he turned and went up the stairs.  Black watched him go.  “Why didn’t you stop me, Prongs?  You’re the Best Boy.”  “It’s never _your_ fault, is it, Padfoot?”

Severus and Eileen joined the Morgan family on a junk to Torayama Naval Base.  “It’s one of the perqs of being a legacy Azure Dragon,”  Takeshi said.  “My mother retired as Admiral.  She can always commandeer any vessel.”  Katsumi Morgan ruffled his hair.  “You’ll never make it to Captain, if you keep being distracted with all this Ministry idiocy.”  Masumi chatted with Eileen about dancing.  “My sister is a noted dancer, as well as trained by all the Mountain Yokai in the use of weapons.   She took over the temple to the Mountain Gods five years ago when the last shaman died,”  Takeshi explained to Severus.  Both of her children are at Makoutokoro.  Her husband was killed in Cambodia.  He was a Genbu, Black Turtle/Warrior.  You know that the Turtle has a snake partner, I think if you were one of the Guardians, that’s the one you’d be, Severus.  They are the intelligence branch, they do the espionage, infiltration, and instigation.” [[White tiger = Byakko, Azure Dragon = Seiryu, Vermilion Phoenix = Suzaku]]


	2. The Last Yule for the Friends of the Fey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the final Yule vigil for the friends, and the Morgans make Severus an offer he can't refuse. Sirius Black is given a final warning to stop harassing Eli and attacking Severus.

When they went to the stables, JeanneMarie was in the tack room with Nils the Nisse, his cousins and some of the house elves from Hogsmeade residences. “there’s enough snow falling so I am going to use the sleigh, with a troika hitch,” she said. "The train is arriving in an hour, get the grey Arabs ready for the first shift.”

They went to the stalls and groomed the horses, fetched the harness, and got the sleigh out. “You never notice how much work the elves do until they get a day off,” Eli said. "Our job will get easier when some of the kids get here, they always want to be around the horses and help out”

About noon, the limosine arrived with Takeshi, Emerald, and Eileen Snape. Takeshi went to the stable and the two women went into the house. “Grandmother told me about your dancing, Eli, Severus. Are you going to show us? Did your mother teach you?”

Severus’s face clouded over. He scowled. “She took me with her to the studio,”

Eli looked at him in distress. “Until the day he beat you both,” Eli said, under her breath. “That’s why she had to quit, wasn’t it? He started beating you that day … because you were dancing.”

“How did you know?” “You just told me. Not with words, Severus.”

Takeshi put his hand on Severus’s shoulder. “Emerald knew as soon as she saw you and your mother, you can’t keep secrets from a Faerie. I think I hear the Usual Suspects approaching. I must go get the musicians set up.’

 

Vivienne, Frank and Alice entered the stable, carrying overnight bags and Morrigan in her Hermes carrying bag. “Go drop off your bags, put on your riding clothes and come down, tell me the gossip about last night.”

“Oh, you won’t believe what happened,” Alice said.

Eli looked at Severus. “You know there was an incident last night, while you were doing your act with Eleutheria. I didn’t think you’d seen it.”

“No, I was watching her and trying to keep up.”

“Yeah, well, Prof M made me talk to Lupin, and I actually danced with him at her request. That asshole Black tried to cut in. So, I left the floor, did a Bette Davis turn, right in front of all the VIPs and Slughorn. Dumbledore dragged Black off, that’s the last I saw of him. He’d been warned you see. a couple of months ago, he tried to dose me with some kind of cheap “love potion” and he’d been told to never try to have any contact with me. Lupin said he was keeping Black under control but I don’t think anyone can.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” “Because it was handled by D and M, they made him DRINK IT, he was sick for a week.” She laughed. “And last night, I guess we can say that we made the scene and he made a scene. What a jackass.”

“You two are the heroes of Slytherin … Dumbledore gave Gryffindor enough demerits to put them in last place and that means Slytherin will probably win the House Cup. There is going to be a hearing Monday morning, he might be expelled! Gryffindor voted to send him to Coventry, with only three abstentions and that wretched Pettigrew even signed!”

“I hope they won’t make me show up at the hearing,” Eli said. “I don’t like being in the same room with that perv.”

“I think he was drunk,” said Alice.

“That’s no excuse,” said Severus. He turned to Eli. “You told them about the potion and not me?”

“It wouldn’t have worked anyway, Black sucks at potions and the one he made would not have the effect he wanted, especially not on me.”

“You know what he said in potions class? He didn’t see me, he told Potter that you must have brewed Eli a love potion, that would be the only reason ‘anything that fine would have anything to do’ with you,” said Vivienne, “so it was OK for him to do the same.”

“So you narc’ed him out?” She smiled.

 

The sound of the sleigh bells rang through the snowflakes and the horses pulled into the yard. Eli and Severus unhitched the team and put their cooling blankets on them, and handed them off to three of the children who had gathered in the tack room. As the children walked the horses up and down the aisle, Eli led three black Friesians in harness and hitched them to the sleigh. Jeanne-Marie showed her chestnut to Prof M, who had come to the stable with Emerald. Vivienne and Alice fed chocolates to Yojimbo.

“So, who wants to ride Yojimbo? Alice? Minerva, you used to compete in Eventing, you should ride my pony here. He’s the fastest horse in Faerie and he can jump anything. His name is Secretariat, after the Terran horse. Everyone else, groom and saddle the horse you want to ride.”

Eli and Severus took the greys from the children and finished cooling them down, then groomed them, put them away, and wiped down the harness before hanging it up. The group set out to Hogsmeade. Eleutheria arrived, with Prof S.

“Sorry to be late, but we had to deal with some Issues,” said the Professor.

Eleutheria went to the tack room to give Nils a present. Eli was showing the horses to Horace when she came back. “I’m trying to get Nils to send out one of his apprentices to our farm on Mount Shasta. You have to come visit, Eli. You’ll be right across the Pacific when you join your unit, you can catch a junk to the West Coast, take the Coast Starlight to San Francisco and go see the bands play.”

“You want to ride?”

“No, I can’t stay very long, I have to get back home, my family is having the Solstice Vigil at our place and I have to be there to help. Lucky for me that I can race the sun back to the mountain. It means my Long Night will be really long, though!” She looked around, saw Severus grooming a horse and then whispered in Eli’s ear, “So you and Snape finally got together, eh?”

Eli smiled. “I wouldn’t want to kiss and tell.”

“You don’t have to. I saw the way he looked at you. The thing is, just about everyone at school thinks you two have been going at it for a long time. I’ve had to listen to Lupin whimpering about you for years. And that Black … I may not be coming back, I am considering dropping out. I picked a fight with those creeps and told Dumbledore I want to drop out, he and Prof M want me to switch houses, and I’m considering it, but this was the last straw. I don’t know how you put up with it for so long, and poor Severus! I’ve had it with Magonagall, I’ve been telling her for years about what jerks they are, and she covers for them.”

“I hope you stay, I need all the friends I have,” said Eli. “If they can get you in another house or let you live off campus, you’re seventeen now. Maybe even stay here? We have plenty of room.”

“If they let me move in with Alice that would be nice, she’s Prefect and has a great room of her own. You know, most of my friends are Hufflepuffs.”

“I’ll stay in touch with you over break, I can come by your place and we can use the Shasta gate to go to Faerie and then come here, if you decide to stay, it’s just a few more months. I don’t have enough friends as it is, I can’t afford to lose one.”

 

Albus walked up to them. “Jones, as of this moment, you are a Hufflepuff and your things have been moved to Addington’s room. Prof Sprout is sorry to hear about the problems you’ve been having and she agrees with you about the lack of supervision in Gryffindor. The entire staff hopes you will return, and I assure you steps will be taken,”

“Too little, too late,” growled Eli. “I am not returning to any classes with any of them. Either allow me to take the courses on an independent study basis, or allow me to drop those classes and I’ll do the NEWTS based on what I know now. I think I can keep up with my classes without attending them, well, probably not Potions. It’s not like these tests matter to me, since I shall never work for or with the Ministry in any capacity. I’ve still got years of study ahead of me, we Fey believe that education never ends, and right now, I need to focus on my military training. I will, of course, continue with the Runes study group and riding lessons.”

“Minerva is sorry about what happened, and she said Eleutheria was right. You know she was disappointed when you didn’t get in Gryffindor.”

“Actually, that’s where the hat wanted to put me right away, and I said no. That’s why the long hatblock. I’d met those assholes on the train, so you can tell her that if she had gotten them under control in their first year, I probably would have been a Gryffindor. I knew I had to stick by Severus, he needed my help, he needed a friend close by because of them. You knew about it, you didn’t stop them either. Maybe that’s the way you do things here, but that’s not the way we do things where I was born.”

“That’s what I told Prof M,” said Eleutheria.

Albus smiled sadly at her. “I know. This was not the first time that I allowed students to get out of control and harm others.”

Emerald asked Eli and Severus to go to see Great Grandmother in the Morning Room, “and take the garden path to the side entrance,” she added, looking at their boots. When they got to the room, used as an office, Great Grandmother was joined by Eileen Snape, Grandfather and Grandmother Morgan, Emerald and Takeshi. The elder dame smiled at Severus. “Now that you’re about the graduate, we’d like to help you get started in life, by helping us out. This estate is entailed to the eldest female, and if there is no female, the eldest male holds it in trust. Masumi, Gwydion’s daughter, must stay on her mountain, so Jeanne-Marie is my heir, with Takeshi acting in her interests because of the second class legal status of the Fey. Essentially, under Ministry law, the Fey do not have the same rights and need someone Terran to act as proxy. Takeshi will be leaving to return to the Pacific Rim in the near future, so we’d like to ask you to join our family. If you are willing, Jeanne-Marie will adopt you as her younger brother. When I die, she will be the head of the family, and if you are her younger brother, you can act in her interests. She’ll own the real property, half of the estate, and you have an equal share of the estate as Eli. It just makes the paperwork a lot easier. You know everyone in the family feels you are a part of us already, this will make it official. And it makes you financially independent.”

Grandfather Morgan smiled at Severus. “There is a wonderful ceremony on the mountain, if you and your mother agree, we can go there and perform it the day after tomorrow. the hotsprings are delightful in the winter. You know I grew up here, but the mountain is my home. I knew that when I met you, my love,” he said, taking his wife’s hand.

Eileen smiled at her son. “I don’t know what to say,” he said.

“’Thank you’ might be nice,” said his mother.

 

At sundown all of the horses had been fed, groomed, and were left to their party. Eli and Severus went to the loft, where the girls were examining her wardrobe and digging through trunks of clothing found in the attic. “Our last Yule as students,” Vivienne said with a sigh. “I wonder where we’ll be next year.”

“Here, I hope,” said Alice. I love the farm. You can get leave for the holidays, can’t you, Eli?”

“It depends on what’s going on. If there’s fighting or some kind of disaster I have to be there, but otherwise, it’s not a problem. When I’m not training or on active duty I’ve got to get started with my studies at the College of Druids, old soldiers end up teaching or writing or singing on the road with bards. I have to write up my evaluation of Hogwart’s educational standards, and what I observed about Terrans.”

“I’m hoping to get accepted into the Auror training program,” said Alice.

“I think you’ll get in, your scores were excellent,” said Vivienne. “I’m not sure what I want to do yet.” “Now, what shall we wear tonight.”

 

Severus and Frank got cleaned up and went out the studio doors to the house. They were met by Takeshi, who took them up to his old room under the eaves. “I’m glad you two got to meet. There aren’t many people I can trust anymore. Things are past the tipping point. Riddle and his pals are getting bolder. Careful around your friends in Slytherin, Severus, they’ve fallen for Salazar’s Folly. I’m going to Tibet, all hell is about to break loose. The daemons got the Ch’in to get some nuclear weapons, according to our intelligence. I’m wrapping things up at the Ministry, my reports are written, all my paperwork is in order. I’m not telling anyone there until it’s time to go. Frank, things are worse than we’ve discussed and you know who I’m talking about, the rot is everywhere. Severus, if I don’t come back you’ll be needed here. Jeanne-Marie is going to turn it into an embassy, and we’re officially reopening the hill gate. The Farm will be neutral territory and the Ministry has no authority over anything or anyone here.”

He smiled. “She’s planning on opening a free medical clinic for all creatures great and small at the entrance. That’s my daughter! She’s going to help evacuate creatures to Faerie in the endangered species program.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Not really sure, probably in a couple of months. Right now the Black Turtles are infiltrating, and the Red Phoenixes are flying reconnaissance missions. Then the Azure Dragons and White Tigers move in. “The problem with the Ministry is the underlying concept of Guilty Until Proven Innocent, and the insane Code of Silence, It’s like in the Burning Times, you have to prove you’re not a Death Eater, and who’s going to believe a Death Eater? As if you could prove the Null Hypothesis. It’s not that Riddle is as great as he thinks he is, he’s just in the right place at the right time. That’s psychohistory for you! Things keep repeating, the chaos turns into the same pattern we saw before. “Now, you gentlemen had best go get the ladies and make an entrance into the party downstairs.”

He signaled to Severus to stay. After Frank left, he said, “I know I can rely on you to look out for my ladies if anything happens to me. Let them take care of you, son.” He put his arms around Severus’s shoulders, hugged him, and they walked down the stairs.

 

The ladies had been smoking hashish as they adorned each other. Older Sister joined them and was directing their efforts. They raided the stash of clothing in the attic with the help of Cordelia. Alice wore a pearly white Duchesse satin gown, artfully draped, pearls dripping around her neck, with the mistletoe coronet on her head because “You’re the prettiest tonight, Alice,” declared Older Sister. “So you get to wear the crown.”

Eli wore a black taffeta dress, quite revealing, covered with sparkling black beadwork on the bodice with long dangling bead fringes forming a knee length skirt. She wore the diamond snake bracelet wrapped around her upper arm, the ruby ring, and a diamond headband holding a phoenix feather aigrette. She had over her shoulders an oversized heavy silk floss shawl that matched the colors of the phoenix feathers.

Vivienne shimmered in a cloth of gold sheath, her long bronze hair dusted with gold, plaited into a crown with red roses from the greenhouse.  

 

The group went to the house, to the sound of a Faerie band. The table had been removed from the Great Hall to allow dancing. Severus smiled at Eli. “Won’t everyone be surprised to see you dancing, Eli.”

“I hope your mother likes it.”

“I think she will be amazed that I remember everything she taught me.” Severus pulled her aside.  "merde"  "back at you"

They made their way through the people, stopping to chat frequently, until they got to where Cordelia was sitting, dressed in her best holiday regalia. “I notice you are both wearing dance shoes. Are you going to show us your routine?” she asked them. “Then you should dance all the rest with your mother, Severus. I’ve noticed how she hasn’t danced yet at any of my parties, and we all loved to watch her, she was so graceful, so elegant.”

He nodded. “I’ll ask her.”

“you know you are the only thing that’s kept her going all these years, Severus.”

“I know. If it hadn’t been for me she wouldn’t have married him, and she would still be dancing.” Cordelia got up and hugged him.

“Oh, my lad, don’t think that way. She always wanted a big family. When they first met as children, I almost hoped she and Takeshi would get together, but when he met Emerald, that was it for him, and he fulfilled the prophecy we’ve been waiting here for so long. I agree with your grandfather, she should have never married him!”

She pulled him over to the sofa and sat next to him. “Eli, you go mingle for a while, I want to talk to Severus.”

“How do you know my grandfather?” he asked.

“Oh, my dear, I know everyone worth knowing, and some not worth knowing. I used to travel a lot and visited him many times. I know your grandmother, too. She was a dancer, they met at the Mayfair dance on the hilltop. She didn’t have a maternal bone in her body, and knew your mother would be better off with her father, but insisted your mother attend Hogwart’s. She was always on the road, dancing, made a very good living at it. All she ever did for her child was send money. That ended when she married a Muggle, you know. Your grandfather could not and would not leave his library, and he couldn’t tolerate the climate of these damp isles. So, your mother got bounced back and forth, and she wanted what she hadn’t had, a stable family life. She didn’t get it. She stuck it out, she honored the bargain she had made, and let’s face it, your father needs her more than she needs him. You’re of age now. It’s time for her to move on, so help her.”

 

Albus and Minerva approached them, each bearing two cups of wassail. When they had all shared a toast, Cordelia signaled to the musicians in the gallery, and stood up. Everyone in the hall stopped talking and turned to her. “We have a special treat tonight. My greatgranddaughter Eli finally learned how to dance, and she will now demonstrate her new skill. If you would please clear the center floor, please.’ +

Severus got up and went to the center of the cleared space. Eli made a dramatic entrance, leaping like Nijinski in the opening of Le Spectre de la Rose, while using the shawl like a cape, tossing it aside as she landed. She did a reverence to Severus as the music began. Cordelia led Eileen to her sofa and they sat together watching the two do their dance. Eileen’s face was frozen at first as she stared at her son. She was astonished at how well he danced. She had seen his talent at a very early age.

His body was long and flexible, he had a beautiful line, and his musicality was beyond belief. She flashed back to the day, eight years before, when Tobias had come home drunk, saw them dancing together, and for the first time beat her unconscious. She had no idea what provoked this. All she remembered was waking up on the floor as Severus was wiping her face with a damp washcloth, washing the blood away. His nose was bleeding, his lip torn, and she could see bruises forming on his neck. Cordelia gave her a silver pipe of opiated Faerie hashish.

“Here, dear. It’s Yule. Forget the past.” Eileen inhaled the fragrant vapors. Her mood instantly elevated. She looked at the couple. Eli had finally grown out of her coltish adolescence, and her long muscled body in the skimpy dress was shown to its best advantage in the fast moves of the dance. She noted that Eli’s technique was spotty, but her spirit and natural grace and unusual beauty made up for it. Eileen smiled. Her son had not told her that they had finally consummated their relationship the night before. She knew. She was overjoyed; as long as she had known Eli this is what she had hoped for. His obsession with the Evans girl had distressed her when it became clear the feelings were not requited, nor deserved, in her opinion.

 

The couple finished the dance in front of Cordelia’s sofa. After the applause had died down and the band restarted, Severus held out his hand to his mother and they took to the floor. Albus and Cordelia joined them, and the band played on into the longest night.

The moon was still in the sky when Eli and Severus returned to the loft. Vivienne was in the house, listening to the Faerie musicians playing the night away. Alice and Frank were still in the studio, curled up on a futon, watching Black Narcissus. Severus bent over and kissed the nape of her neck, his hair falling over her neck and shoulders. She shivered and her breath got faster. “Vivienne is fascinated with your cousin Asimov, she’s always been Fey curious. Frank and Alice don’t want to be disturbed,” he whispered. He pulled her to her feet and ran his hands under her clothes.

“I don’t want to disturb them, either.” she whispered, and walked him over to the bed, jumped on it, pulled him down, then shut the curtains. She waved her athame to create a silence spell around the bed. “You know that Faeries are very sensitive, the nerve endings in our skin react strongly to stimuli. That’s why I have to keep my distance from people I don’t like, because any contact with them makes me want to either leave or kill them. With you, it doesn’t take much to get my motor running, so watch it. There is something else you should know. When we are connected, I can feel what you’re feeling, I am in your mind and feel both of us.”

“No wonder last night was so effortless, you were inside me as well as you. I wish I could do that.”

“I can show you.” She kissed his third eye. He felt his body shifting. “when your hair brushes against me I get weak in the knees. When you breathe on me my brain shuts down and all the blood drains to my lower chakras. Then my hands start transmitting back, like this,” she said, and ran her hands up and down his spine. “then we let the feedback loop build until the inevitable cascade.”

And so they did. Severus began to understand what Takeshi meant about Faerie women.

 

 

Lily and Pettigrew left with the rest of the students the next day. Sirius said he didn’t want her there and Pettigrew said he had urgent family business. Remus did not show up at all that day, and James went to Hogsmeade to get more aqua vitae. Sirius spent most of the day pacing up and down the room.

Prof M spoke to Remus Monday at breakfast, where staff and the dozen or so students remaining on campus ate at a single table. “How are your friends doing?

“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to them since the night of the party. I spent all day yesterday in the forest. Looking for a unicorn. Or something more deadly so I wouldn’t have to look at myself in the mirror. He’s my friend, but I hate what he’s done.”

“Remus, people mature at different rates. The responsibility is mine, I should have intervened long ago. There have been a lot of complaints about the conflict between your group and Eli and Severus, none of which, I should mention, were filed by them, but by other students and staff who witnessed the incidents. I guess it’s easier to pretend it’s just students playing pranks, that no one is getting hurt, that it’s part of growing up, and they’ll get over it. We want to believe that. But look at you. You’re collateral damage.”

“Ever since she came here, I wanted to get to know her. But I went along with them and didn’t say anything when Sirius said some things he shouldn’t have. Like I went along with James when he attacked Severus, from the very beginning. We were bullies. No, I was a coward. I knew it was wrong. I started following her around, trying to talk to her alone, but she always seems to know she’s being followed, and she moves so fast. She’s … she’s … she’s amazing, she’s a force of nature, like a hurricane, she’s a goddess.”

“Your infatuation with her was noted, but you respected her, you didn’t force any attention on her, she just didn’t want anything to do with you because of your friends. You didn’t try to give her a love potion. Why didn’t you report Sirius for that?”

“I didn’t know about it, he never told me, but James and Peter knew.” He lowered his eyes to his hands. “You trusted me enough to make me prefect, and I let you down. I thought loyalty was important, but you can’t be loyal to anyone doing things you know are wrong, it makes you a part of it. I should have tried to stop him, or at least let him know I wouldn’t go along with it.”

She looked pointedly at the abrasions on his knuckles. “Did he get it this time?”

“That was partly for Diane and all the other girls. He goes after the girls here like a dog running sheep, rips out their guts and leaves ‘em there.”

“I know,” said Prof M in a harsh voice. “It’s a hard lesson for women to learn, some don’t survive it. Did it ever occur to you that the reason Sirius kept harassing her was to make sure you never had a chance to get to know her?”

“yeah,” he said in a whisper, “it did.”

“Jealousy is a very powerful motivator. He had to keep the two of you separated because he knew about your feelings for her, and he didn’t want to share you.” She refilled her coffee cup.

 

Remus looked at her, and began to blush, realizing she knew of their involvement. “Oh, don’t be so uptight, this is nothing new, so he’s like Julius Caesar, ‘a husband to every woman and a wife to every man.’ He is promiscuous with women, but with men, you’re his only one. So of course he’s jealous, she’s the first girl you ever showed an interest in. We should head for Albus’s office now.”

They headed up the stairs at the same time Sirius and James left the dorm. Albus and Horace were waiting. There was a stack of parchments on the table in front of Albus. “Sit down. We’ll keep this brief. This is a list of complaints from students and faculty regarding your behavior towards Eli le Fey and Severus Snape. You were warned twice before, and after the incident the day of the OWL exam you were told explicitly to cease and desist.”

"Everyone in the room is aware of what happened after the attempted murder."  Albus held up a document, several pages long.  "This is from the College of Druids and the Crone in Avalon.  "I was put on notice that this was considered a very serious matter, that Eli's, as well as Severus's, rights were violated, that my obvious discrimination against them was unworthy of anyone in the educational field, and that no other Faeries would be allowed to attend Hogwarts.  Additionally, no Hogwarts staff would be permitted to visit and work with the College of Druids.  Not only did I get banned from Faerie, we will not be able to share the wisdom and magic of the Fey.  Your antics cost us dearly, and me personally.  I cannot fault Eli for reporting this.  It is the duty of a soldier to report any possible breach of conduct or protocol.  I was in the wrong all along.  She wanted to leave a paper trail, so that if she did use deadly force to protect Severus, she had evidence she tried to stop the abuse and we essentially condoned it, so she had no other option."

He turned to Sirius, who was beginning to understand just how badly he had harmed his friends, his mentors, and most of all, Eli and Severus.  

"We sent you to healers, to get you under control.  Your conduct did improve.  There were no further incidents, until the party.  But that didn't change all of the incidents in the past, you know.  The cumulative effect of all of the incidents, all of the abuse, the bullying, the slander and libel you subjected Eli and Severus to was considerable, and sadly, none of you, other than Remus, bothered to apologize or even attempt to make any amends to those you harmed.

"Let's talk about the incident on the day of the OWL,s before the attempted murder.  It was a disgrace to the school, and to all of the wizards in this realm.  Potter, you chose to perform an act so childishly brutal, so needlessly humiliating, it was unworthy of a wizard.  This after you assured me there would be no more persecution of Severus and Eli. It wasn't funny.  Your 'joke' was reported to the College of Druids, and the response from them was that they were discussing whether or not to declare the entire jurisdiction off limits to the Fey and to block all contact with us.  They filed a protest with the Ministry.  As a result of this, several students were pulled from Hogwarts and sent to other schools, because the parents did not want their children subjected to brutal bullying at the hands of the student officials.  If the report send by the Fey to the Ministry is ever made public, let me assure you that more parents would do likewise, and this is a black mark on my record as headmaster.  So you see, both of you did a great deal of harm."

Remus looked down at his hands.  He had never felt this ashamed of himself before.  He and his friends had hurt the only man who had helped him.  "You never should have let me in, Professor," he said in a soft voice.  "It's my fault."  He looked up with savage misery at Sirius.  "Then I never would have met you."   

The tone of his voice hit Sirius like a crossbow bolt.  Would he lose Remus forever?  

Prof M spoke, “The fault is mine for not correcting your behavior sooner. I like you boys, so I preferred to downplay the harm done. Miss le Fey came to me after the OWL incident in an absolute rage, no, I’d say it was righteous wrath. As you know, she was forced to take her OWLs in the early morning, alone, since there were those in the Ministry who were ‘concerned’ that her abilities would allow cheating. So you knew she wouldn’t be there; not even you, Potter, are that reckless, to attack her friend if she were there to even the odds. She wanted to leave Hogwart’s that very day, lest she lose control and do irreparable harm to both of you, called in her father, oh, she is so like her father, always standing up for the oppressed. That was a horrible thing to do, completely unforgivable, Potter. You should have been severely punished after that. Eli agreed to stay; Takeshi managed to convince her not to go back to Faerie and to stand by her friend instead.”

She looked at Sirius, with a deep frown. “Takeshi and I were classmates, and he was one of the finest, noblest, and gifted of wizards. He was very popular with the girls, but he never took advantage of this popularity. I realize that times have changed and sexual mores are considerably more relaxed than they were then, but really, Black, your conduct is unbecoming a wizard and a gentleman. Don’t you think I keep track of my girls? Don’t you think I’ve heard them cry? They are so shamed by you they won’t let me take action, because they don’t want everyone to know how gullible they were. And of course, you don’t keep your ‘conquests’ a secret, and those poor girls end up miserable when the gossip gets back to them. I’ve let you get over on me, but your charm has lost its mojo, Black. It won’t work on me anymore.”

 

Prof D: “All Eli had to say about what we should do to you is, and I quote, “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do to him, just as long as I never have to look at him or speak to him ever again.’ She will be taking her classes on an independent study basis so she will not be in any classes with any of you. She pointed out that it might not be in the Ministry’s best interest to have a hearing about your conduct over your years here, lest the parents of the girls you have used made aware of your behavior, and the school made to look as though this was condoned. The times are changing, and women are less likely to suffer in silence when they are being harassed. She submitted a written proposal for a new rule regarding student conduct, and we are introducing it when the students return next month. This new rule is to be named in your honor, at her insistence. That is to be your legacy here, Black. You will not be expelled, you will be allowed to graduate, but you cannot attend any extracurricular activities, including but not limited to graduation, social gatherings, Quiddich matches, etc. You are to have no contact with Eli le Fey, you will immediately cease and desist any and all attempts to defame or degrade Severus Snape, you will not talk to them or of them. The imposition of Coventry imposed on you by your House members will stand, since all but three signed the petition. You would not be advised to use any of the staff of Hogwart’s as references, since they are all in agreement that your conduct was unbecoming of a Hogwart’s student, and some feel that your behavior rises to the level of criminal liability. I should also point out to you that if she ever encounters you off campus, she is legally permitted, under our law and Faerie law, to call you out in a duel to the death, and she would win. You would not stand a chance against her. She has been trained to slay daemons. The Yokai on Torayama have danced in her honor. She is able to call upon powers you can’t even dream of, my young friends. If you value your lives, you will not antagonize her in any way in the future. I won’t hold her back anymore. One more thing, Black. You received this letter, signed by everyone in Slytherin, thanking you for your help in making sure they will win the House Cup this year, by removing your own house from the running. You tried to turn Severus Snape into a pariah. Let’s see how much you like being one yourself.”

 

The three of them left and walked down the hall in silence. Finally Black said, “I really was an asshole, wasn’t I?”

“You still are, and you shouldn’t get upset when you choose to be an asshole and someone tells you so. You don’t like being treated like the biggest asshole in Great Britain, STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE,” snarled Lupin.

Black stopped in his tracks and stared at him. He dropped his head and muttered, “you’ve got a point there, my friend.”

“So, everyone to my place!” said Potter.

“I’m staying here over break,” said Lupin, and he turned and went up the stairs.

Black watched him go. “Why didn’t you stop me, Prongs? You’re the Best Boy.”

“It’s never your fault, is it, Padfoot?”

 

Severus and Eileen joined the Morgan family on a junk to Torayama Naval Base. “It’s one of the perqs of being a legacy Azure Dragon,” Takeshi said. “My mother retired as Admiral. She can always commandeer any vessel.” Katsumi Morgan ruffled his hair. “You’ll never make it to Captain, if you keep being distracted with all this Ministry idiocy.” Masumi chatted with Eileen about dancing. “My sister is a noted dancer, as well as trained by all the Mountain Yokai in the use of weapons. She took over the temple to the Mountain Gods five years ago when the last shaman died,” Takeshi explained to Severus. Both of her children are at Makoutokoro. Her husband was killed in Cambodia. He was a Genbu, Black Turtle/Warrior. You know that the Turtle has a snake partner, I think if you were one of the Guardians, that’s the one you’d be, Severus. They are the intelligence branch, they do the espionage, infiltration, and instigation.” [[White tiger = Byakko, Azure Dragon = Seiryu, Vermilion Phoenix = Suzaku]]


	3. Severus Joins The Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because of species discrimination, Jeanne-Marie, heir to the Farm, adopts Severus as his Older Sister, with general power of attorney to handle all matters, fiduciary and legal, Muggle and magical, for her. Now that he is of age, both of his maternal grandparents seek contact with him.

 

Torayama was beautiful in the snow, Severus thought as the junk raised to the surface. He’d reviewed and signed all the legal paperwork already. All he’d have to do is to show up, repeat some vows, and drink sake to make him Jeanne-Marie le Fey’s younger brother. He was given power of attorney over the Morgan “Muggle” money, as well as the Hillgate Farm accounts at Gringott’s.

Takeshi and Gwydion dressed Severus that morning, in a heavy, winter weight silk, all in formal black with the five crests. Takeshi presented Severus with a tanto blade, with a scabbard that had a dragon carved into it. Eli and Jeanne-Marie wore formal robes, with a design of their animagae on the border. The family formed a procession and they walked to the shrine.

Masumi was waiting for them at the tori gate. After ritual washing Jeanne-Marie and Severus announced their intent to the gods, made the gift to the mountain spirit, drank the sake, and burned a copy of the legal paperwork in the green fire Kasumi conjured.

Jeanne-Marie presented him with a daisho, the short and long sword, which Severus put in his sash. They walked back to the inn, where they drank sake, listened to music, sang songs and watched dancers.

Later that night, Eli and Severus went to their room, where Eli carefully placed his formal kimono on a stand, with the swords on a rack.

  
“Tell me something, Eli. If Faeries married, would you have married me?”

  
“What is that supposed to mean?” she said, abruptly turning to face him.

  
He grinned. “Or would I have to marry Older Sister?”

  
“You want me to make an honest man of you, Severus?” Eli laughed. She put her outer kimono on a rack, and carefully folded the obi, which was black, embroidered in a tiger striped pattern in gold and bronze. “I guess it would be more traditional, but they would have married you to me, of course. Thank the goddess we didn’t have to, eh?”

  
“I thought this was just about business,” he said.

  
“Yeah, between you and Older Sister. I don’t think that your Ministry will ever give full rights to the Fey,” she said. “Not for a while, anyway, the way things are going.”

  
“So where are we going?”

  
“Tomorrow we’re going to Avalon, we’ll walk up the trail to the gateway, then wherever you want.”

  
“How about a few days in Avalon, then London? See some ballet, watch the new bands,” he said. “Send a raven with a message for the elves and the horses.”

  
“Sounds great. I should warn you, Cordelia is planning a rather large party for your birthday this year. She’s already invited your favorite professors, past and present, your new relatives from Torayama, and all of the food and drink will be from Avalon, I’m not sure how many of them will be there, plus most of the music classes want to come, Takeshi and as many of his musician friends as are available, plus their friends, so she’s gotten the entire pub.”

  
“So that’s what you were talking about with her for so long.”

  
“Yes,we were finalizing the invitation list, you can check it out later, make sure everyone you’d like to invite is on the list and no one you don’t want isn’t on it.” She poured out two cups of warm sake. They drank. “Your grandmother would like to know if she’d be welcome.”

 

Severus froze. After a moment he refilled his cup and drank it down.

  
“I’d have to ask Mother.”

  
“Cordelia already has, and your mother says it’s your call.”

  
“I’ll think about it.”

 

Eli refilled two sake cups, drank one, and handed Severus the other. She repeated that until the bottle was empty, then put the bottle and the cups on a tray outside the sliding door. She hung up her robe and slipped under the silk quilt next to Severus.

 

The next day the group hiked up the south flank of the mountain to the gateway to Avalon, a cave entrance framed by a tori, near a stream. Eli called the mists and they headed for her flat. The horses had already arrived from the Farm and were waiting for dinner. Eileen and Severus went to the pantry as Eli got the music system going.

Her family members dropped by with food and drink, and they talked until the sun went down, then Cordelia, Jeanne-Marie, Takeshi, Emerald and Eileen said they were going to the Farm. They would get Tobias and go to London. Cordelia announced she had to be around the Farm for the rest of the Yule festivities.

 

Eli and Severus were alone, except for Yojimbo in his room, with the cats sleeping on his back. “So now you’re officially part of the Family, all of it, both sides of the mist.”

  
“It’s great to have a family, all I had was my parents,” Severus said. “I like it, I feel like I’ve got a whole pack watching my back now.”

  
He unwrapped the silk bundle around his new swords and looked at them. He picked up the short sword and withdrew it from its scabbard. The blade was made by the master swordsmith on the mountain, for him. It was inscribed with a dragon, with his name he’d be given by the yokai, translated literally into “The Dragon Prince”. He admired the blade, noted how it felt balanced in his hand. He resheathed the sword and put it on the stand with the long sword.

“I think I’ll keep them at the dojo. I don’t think they’d let me have them in the dorms. I might be tempted to use them.”

  
“Good idea. They would be lovely in the niche. You know Father commissioned them for you, that’s why he introduced you to the crew that made them. I love how they used Faerie metal thread with the purple thread on the handle.”

“I’d like to spend tomorrow doing some baking,” Severus said. “Let everyone get settled in London then go join them.”

  
“So have you made up your mind about letting your absentee grandmother in your party?”

  
Severus sighed deeply. “I can’t really blame her for what she is, and she does run true to form. Mother made her decisions and stood by them, for better or for worse.”

  
“Sooooooo . . .”

  
“Why not, I’m an adult now, she wasn’t there when I needed her, and now I don’t, so let her see how I turned out, I think I did all right.”

 

The next day they spent in the kitchen, where Severus made a green velvet chocolate cake, spiced apple pies, and honey cakes to bring along to London. At sundown they walked along the lake shore, watched the sun set, then walked to the main Temple to pay respects to the Crone.

Eli carefully packed up the cakes, cookies, truffles and various drinks she was bringing to London in large tote bags, while Severus loaded his gifts on the pack saddle. They walked with Yojimbo through the gates, got him settled at the Farm, and carried up their baggage to the loft.

Severus set his swords in place first. There was a letter addressed to Eli on the table, from Horace, explaining the results of the hearing. She read it, laughed and handed it to Severus.

  
”You think this will be the end of it?” Severus asked.

  
“I sure hope so, but it’s only a few months. I won’t be in any classes with them, just doing independent study, and Horace says you can be in a special potions honors class with me. And Eleutheria. And probably Alice and Vivienne, too.”

  
“Yes, he talked to me about that. He intends on seeing just how much I can learn, and he appreciates the extra effort we put into researching the original potions, and upgrading the material. And take the professor’s prerogative of taking credit for it.”

  
“You should start publishing.”

  
“That’s what Grandfather said. Mother wrote to him about the adoption; he approves but wishes I’d replaced my own father with Takeshi . . . he’d like us to spend New Year’s Eve at his place, he’s having a special party, more like a conference of academics.”

  
“Wow. That sounds great. I’ve never been to Rome.”

They used the main house fireplace to use the floo network to get to the London flat. They were greeted by Eleutheria and Alice.

  
“Vivienne is showing Asimov London,” Alice explained.

 

  
Takeshi and Tobias lamented the state of modern music. “Those punks, they can’t play, and they think that’s a good thing,” Tobias muttered. “O.K., I get it, that Arena Rock thing is out of control, more show than music, and the musicians are getting to be more entertainers than artists.”

  
“And that Art School music scene, some is all right, but so pretentious sometimes, like what happened to what they call progressive rock . .. seems like the Muggles put labels on music instead of listening, it’s like modern art, I suppose, I don’t get that, either.” Takeshi shook his head. “There still are some good acts, I like that Joe Jackson kid, he actually understands music.”

  
“I don’t want to get your hopes up, Toby, but there has been some interest in re-releasing our albums. The only problem is no one knows what happened to Andy. No one is sure if he’s dead or alive. Rumor has it he showed up in San Francisco and was with the Diggers, that’s the last anyone saw him. And you know about poor Neville, run over by a lorry. So … had some friends write up an agreement, we will put Neville’s portion in trust, and try to find him, and set it so Andy’s family can get his share.”

Tobias nodded. “That sounds fair. I won’t lie, the money sure will help, no matter how much we get. Can’t imagine any of our fans still care.”  
“Come on, Toby, you think they like the stuff coming out now? I’m sure they want to hear the music from the era where you had to have some talent and know how to play your instrument.”

Tobias laughed. “Good point. I hear you’re using an alias when you do studio work now.”

Takeshi smiled. “I realized that chasing fame would mean I would have to give up too much privacy, and I need that for my magic, you know. Things are different now, the cult of personality has taken over the arts.”

Tobias shook his head. “I admit I prefer fortune over fame, that gets strange, people acting like they know you, they treat you differently, it’s very seductive, the power, look what fame does to so many. I thought being a failure was a tragedy, but at least I’m still alive. For what it’s worth, getting the last laugh.”  
“Take what you want from life and then pay for it with your life.”

 

All of the Friends wanted to go to Rome and they planned to spend a few days at the villa with Severus’s grandfather. It would be a great opportunity to make contact with the leading alchemical and magical theorists of the day, to pick their brains for leads on an interesting topic for their theses. All of them were in the honors program and had to write research papers. In order to get into the more interesting apprentice programs, they would have to attract attention by their NEWT scores, and having a senior thesis that has primary sources was a good way to get approved for the next opening.

 

http://japanistas.com/en/archives/65500


	4. Happy Holidays

Rory and his entourage stopped by the cliff house that Christmas day, where the house party was in full swing. He was greeted by Eleutheria and her friends in the band, leading him to the table full of food and drinks. 

 

“We don't really observe Christmas, but we do appreciate the holiday,” Eleutheria explained. “We have a lot of parties, a lot of food in the season, of course, every culture has some kind of solstice holiday, the sun god being reborn and all that.” 

Rory nodded. “When the days are short and the nights are long.” 

Eleutheria smiled at him. “I know what you're dying to ask me, and yes, Eli and Severus did get together, a few days ago, after the Yule dance at school.”

Rory controlled the disappointment he felt. First loves often don't last, he thought to himself, and she'd always be his fan, he gave her her first kiss, she'd never be able to forget him. 

“They danced together, I didn't know either of them could dance. Severus was amazing! Eli was so gorgeous,” she said, “you wouldn't believe it, I have a picture here . . .” digging out her wallet and taking out a “muggleprint” of the picture Vivienne took of them, in the lift.”

“Wow. Gerry, get a look at this . . . “

“She cleans up nice, eh, Rory?” 

“Look at the angles of their heads, how their bodies are in alignment, dancing as one, see how they are 'synched' like you noticed last month?”

 

“His mother was a great dancer, she was in the Royal Ballet,” Rory said. “And played keyboards on their records. Those are your friends from school, with the band?” he said, indicating the musicians playing in front of the bay window.

“Yeah, with some of my pals from the mountain. They're playing at the roadhouse near the farm New Year's Eve. I'll have to miss it, I'm going back early and stop off at Rome, we're all meeting there, at Severus's grandfather's place.” 

“So where are Eli and Severus? now” He had to ask. Like wiggling a loose tooth or picking on a scab. You knew it was bad for you and it hurt, but you did it anyway. 

“They went with Takeshi to see his family in Japan.” 

Rory assumed that Eileen and Tobias had gone with them, but they had returned to England, back to their home. Eileen installed a Faerie shield on the inside of the structure, that would block any interference by the Ministry probes. She could now use her magic in private if she wished to. 

Tobias appreciated the benefits of living with magic, but he still wanted out of his hometown, permanently. He wanted to move to the West Coast. Not San Francisco, there was something ominous in how The City was changing, even he felt it. The Radical Faeries were doing all they could to maintain the mojo, but there were powerful forces in effect, generated from the built over swamp underneath City Hall. Sometimes even draining the swamp isn't enough.

The only thing stopping him was that he couldn't leave Eileen. 

She'd known that since they got married. 

 

Love wasn't enough in some cases. It wasn't enough to sustain them. She'd dreamed of a child, she'd actually planned to leave Tobias and go live with her father, but Tobias found out she was pregnant. He was adamant that they marry and quickly, that was her mistake, but she was still in that delusional state of love and went along with his plans. 

He'd married her only because of Severus, and her son was about to leave to make his own way, in the wizarding world. Could she return to that life, herself? Was she afraid to? No. She was not afraid. 

Tobias took the time to decorate their home in 'traditional' fashion, with fairy lights, holly, and fresh smelling pine boughs. Cordelia Morgan had sent groceries, so Eileen was happy in her kitchen, cooking delicacies remembered from better times. 

She'd explained the concept of “Hekate's Meals” so every day at least once they put out wrapped dishes of seasonal treats, to the delight of the poorest in that blighted corner of the Midlands. 

They went to London to stay at the Morgan flat for New Year's Eve, where they were able to use the communication devices to talk to Severus, who was with his school friends in Rome, with her father.

 

She missed his villa, so warm in December, compared to England. The entrance to the magical quarter in Rome was on the stairway where Caesar was murdered, guarded by cats {this is real https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/torre-argentina-roman-cat-sanctuary ] so only the initiates could enter the stairway down to the underground gateway. 

What I did for love, Eileen thought to herself. 

 

Morrigan was particularly excited to go to Rome. The stairway cats greeted her as one of their own, as Alice and her friends gave them the food and catnip they'd brought with them. Jeanne-Marie sent some special treats for them, to ward off parasites and boost their immune systems. 

 

Severus Valerius's villa was unusually active, with his academic friends having their annual Roman bash. They would get together, present their latest research, discuss while getting drunk, then analyzing the data sober. 

Eli and the Friends took a lot of notes, and took advantage of the library facilities. 

“All of this will be yours?” Vivienne asked. “Where will you put it? Are you keeping this place yourself?” 

“Grandfather will be around a long time,” Severus said. “This place is going to be an academic retreat, a storehouse of knowledge. Did you know that there is a connection with some of the original shrines and temples that were here long before Rome?”

“Can we have a look?” Alice asked. “I need to pick a topic for my Comparative Magick class.” 

“Follow me,” Severus said. “We go through the crypt, up the stairway, there is some sort of portal, don't be alarmed if you feel some presence or another.”

 

While they were exploring the most ancient of magical sites, Eileen and her father were talking to each other on the Faerie scrying mirrors Eli had given them for Yule. She set up on the kitchen table, as Tobias was listening to a music sphere with headphones, staring into the fire as he smoked hashish. 

They were at the London flat for the annual New Year's Eve party. A band of Avalon Bards were playing dance music. Tobias went to the kitchen to refill the drinks and food for them, where Eileen was talking to her father and Severus. The Turners and Athena Addington were using their mirrors to form a group call to their children in Rome. 

Eileen's father called out to Tobias. “Happy new year, son in law. Perhaps we can meet in person soon.”

Tobias smiled and nodded. “Sit down,” Athena told him. “It's OK for you to watch this, we're on neutral territory in this building, the law against fraternization is unenforceable.”

Alice used her mirror to flash pictures of the villa. Tobias didn't know how to react. Eileen had given all of this up for him, or was it Severus? Athena had told him earlier that now that Severus was of legal age, Tobias could be acknowledged as his father, which fell into the Uther Exemption Law, which predated the Statute. Nonmagical parents could be given waivers, on a conditional basis. 

Tobias felt humbled. Eileen was smiling and laughing again. What had happened to them? How did it get this bad? 

 

Lily and James suffered through a strained overnight visit with her family three days after Christmas. Her parents felt obligated to be nice to this stranger in their midst, with his insouciant attitude, his slouching, casual elegance; Petunia felt slighted by him. She wasn't special, like her pretty younger sister. 

Her parents announced they had been visiting relatives in the country, and that's why there had been no Christmas dinner, and they would be going to London for New Years; they would leave after breakfast, could they drop off Lily and her friend at the station?

They were more than happy to leave BEFORE breakfast. 

Rhiannon and Regulus managed to find time to be together, hiding out with some witches in Oregon. 

Horace, Minerva, and Albus huddled together at the High Table. The other staff were at family gatherings. There were only about a dozen students, all in their final year who wanted to focus on their studies. This year's NEWTs would determine their futures. 

 

Remus ate all his meals alone, with books and notes stacked up like a barricade around him. He wrote a lot of letters, he told Minerva when she asked him.

“Mostly letters I can't send, to my family, to the creature who infected me, most I burn and leave the ashes at the Crossroads. I've done a Black Egg spell, that helped. [note: There are many black egg spells, but one of the easiest to do was taught to me by Loki, a Radical Faerie who worked at Uma's Tools of Magick. As the moon wanes, you take an egg, and with any sort of black marker or pen (a sharpie is fine) write on the egg what you want to banish, and keep doing so until it's completely black. At the dark moon, bury it at the three way crossing]”

Minerva smiled at him. “It gets better, Remus, it truly does.” She thought back to her final year, hopelessly infatuated with Takeshi, feeling so out of touch with her classmates, her family, nothing seemed to fit right. And she had all of the advantages, compared to Remus. She had a family, a home, and while not rich by any standard, was financially stable. 

“So tell me about what you've been studying, maybe I can recommend sources.” 

They discussed the texts, and after finishing their meal went together to the library, where Minerva outlined the subjects to the librarian. Remus came to love the quiet of the place, as he enjoyed the solitude in his room. He'd never been allowed much privacy, especially since his affliction manifested. Always someone watching you at St Mungos. 

During the term, the library and dorm rooms were never this quiet, there was always an undercurrent of sounds, students practicing spells that sometimes backfired noisily, the house elves minding the fires and watching over them; he felt safe under the eyes of the guardians of the school, with his classmates, but the calm, the peace of empty halls was enchanting. He could focus on his own self, his own thoughts. 

At the dark moon, he took the letters he'd written to people that he wished to banish from his thoughts and magic, to purge them from his psyche. There was simply no percentage in even trying to communicate with some people, so this method was a time honored tradition. At the dark moon, he walked to the Hillgate Convergence, where the three streams met in a waterfall to the lake. There was a temple to Hecate, where he left a covered dish with a meal of holiday treats, and burned the letters with amber and myrrh. The smoke rose in a spiral, and the ashes were swept up and away. 

He felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He strolled down the road to the Shack, where he tidied up as much as he could, in readiness for when the moon would once again trigger his affliction.


	5. The final term begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus has his final birthday as a student, and finds himself suddenly popular.

 

Cordelia was in her element planning the party. As were all her parties, it was invitation only, and her owls were trained to insist on an RSVP. Emerald’s family was taking care of the food, it was to be a traditional midwinter feast. She and Severus went over the invitation list. He insisted on sending one to Lily, even though he knew she would refuse to attend. Cordelia knew what it was about, she remembered the first refusal, last year, when the card came back with a slash of black ink indicating she would not be able to attend. Severus kept the cards, putting them in an ebony box that contained what little memorabilia he had from her. Cordelia understood, how Severus could not let go, never would, once he had given someone his love.

 

Just like his mother. Cordelia watched Eileen fall in love with her grandson, from the day they met. She felt responsible for the relationship; after all, Eileen’s parents met one Beltane, at the Farm’s fire on the hill. They were an unlikely pairing, the flamboyant dancer and the quiet academic. They stayed together long enough for their daughter to be born, then they parted, Eileen left in her father’s care.

 

Severus’s erotic dreams had always been of Eli, not Lily. The dreams began that year in Avalon, where he had slept next to her. He felt a certain amount of guilt at first, since he’d thought of her as a sister, he wanted her as a sister, so she would always be there for him. She was certainly a sexually attractive woman, even though she never paid much attention to how she looked, unless he, her older sister, or Cordelia made her over for an event. The love he felt for Lily, it was a part of his very soul, it was different from how he felt for Eli, and even though she had abandoned him for his worst enemy, he still felt the same towards her. The physical release Eli provided him allowed him to focus on finishing off his schoolwork at the top of the class, no distractions, unlike most of his classmates trying to hook up before graduation. In public, Eli was the same as she ever was towards him, no public displays of affection, but once they were alone, she responded immediately to his feelings.

 

Severus’s birthday was on Monday that year, the day everyone was arriving for class. The invited guests sent their luggage to Hogwarts and went to the pub for the party. The music was playing, a dance floor was in use, and the mead was flowing. The students who were graduating at the end of the term were in a level of excitement, facing a future where they would have to find their own way in the world. It was exhilarating as well as terrifying to most of them.

The Thestral carriages carried the students from the train to Hogwarts. Lily, James and Sirius were in one together, and looked at the pub, just as the door opened to let in more guests, so they could hear the music and laughter from the party. Lily had kept her invitation, used as a bookmark in her journal. She was wearing the snowflake necklace from his birthday in 1974, as she did every year. She silently recited a blessing she’d read in a book about the traditions of the Old Believers to protect Severus and bring him happiness.

James smiled. He was glad that Severus was no longer a pariah. He’d gotten Lily away, or so he thought, not realizing that it was all Lily’s plan from the start. She’d done something to him, he could feel himself changing, he listened to her advice and finally realized that the best thing to do is to ignore Severus as much as possible.

 

Sirius was trying not to show his nervousness. They hadn’t heard from Remus at all during the break. Sirius and Lily had sent him presents on Christmas, of course, but he hadn’t responded. He looked at the pub as they passed it. Who would have believed that old Snivellus would ever get so popular? All because that Faerie fucked him. Eli, the one who got away, the one he could never have. She seemed to like his wretched little brother, allowed him to tag along occasionally, but he never got invited to the Farm, since Cordelia had so much contempt and disgust towards their mother, knowing exactly what she was, and fearing for Regulus’s safety if she knew her youngest was associating with Faeries, Morgans, and worst yet, a Muggleborn, the abomination, the Muggleborn Slytherin, Simmonds. He was actually proud of his brother for the first time. He hoped it worked out between them and he’d even help them elope when they were of age.

 

Severus was looking forward to meeting his grandmother. The setting was perfect. He looked great in his riding habit, he was surrounded by music, dance and magic, and he had a Faerie woman at his side. She’d abandoned his mother, she’d abandoned him, she hadn’t been there when they needed her. Eileen wore a black hunt jacket, with a purple damask vest, white breeches and stock, pinned with a Faerie metal bar pin, embellished with a different snowflake for every birthday since they began celebrating here. Her boots were perfectly shined. She was ready to face her Mother.

Moira Prince apparated at the pub entrance after the Hogwarts Express arrived. She had stopped trying to conceal signs of aging after she retired from performance, and now taught and choreographed for her own company, with its home base in the magical quarter of Prague. There were streaks of silver in the flaming red hair, pinned up in a chignon with jeweled hairpins. She wore a midnight blue velvet suit, with an ankle length flared skirt and fitted jacket, over a white blouse with a wing collar, held in place with a pearl choker holding a carved aquamarine brooch that matched her eyes.

Moira opened the door. Cordelia had already posed the scene. She stood on one side of Eileen, with Severus on her other side. Eli was next to Severus, standing by the stage. The dancer headed straight for them, smiling, first bowing to Cordelia, then Eileen, Severus, and Eli. She handed Severus a bag, then sat down at the table next to the stage.

  
“Happy birthday, Grandson, you turned out well.”

  
“Thank you, Grandmother, you’re holding together well.”

  
She smiled.

  
“I try.”

 

  
Eileen sat down next to her mother.

  
They looked at each other.

  
“We have a lot to talk about,” Eileen said. “Later. After the party. Right now, let’s go say hello to all of the Hogwarts people, they’re over at that table.”

 

The heads of house and Albus were getting ready to leave, since the students had arrived and they would be gathered at dinner soon. Moira chatted with all of them, promising to make sure they had tickets next time her company was in Britian.  Severus and Eli worked the room, thanking them for coming. The pile of presents on the high table kept growing. He had learned enough mentalics from Eli to be able to pick up on the feelings of the students. They had all been intimidated by him, the purebreds felt awkward, since his father was a Muggle, and a working class one at that. Many of the other students who admired his intellect, mostly Ravensclaws, kept their distance because he was a Slytherin and his close association with Eli, who was treated like a pariah at first by so many who bought into the anti-Faerie faction in the Ministry.

 

Eli and her girl friends all wore their snowflake necklaces. Each year the chain was longer, so wearing them all together was a cascade of the Faerie metal necklaces, sparkling in the lights. Every guest had placed theirs around their neck when they were given the party favors bag, full of Faerie chocolate truffles and hashish brownies.

 

Many of the musicians who had begged invitations to the party wanted to discuss Tobias Snape with Severus, who simply smiled and said “He retired from active playing some time ago,” and would move on to the next person.

At midnight Cordelia began to have the students driven to Hogwarts in sleighs. Some of the final year students took rooms upstairs, and the Friends all went to the Farm with Cordelia.

 

When Takeshi was packing up his guitar, Eileen approached him and asked him to drive her back to Spinner’s End with her mother.

  
“It’s time you met your son in law,” she said to Moira. “We went through some hard times, but we survived, and our son has a brilliant future, and you did pay his tuition. I know, you did the best you could for me, you made sure I had a good education, the best dance teachers. Let’s go.”

 

When the limo got to Spinner’s End, Takeshi knocked on the door. Tobias was waiting and came outside and got inside. His eyes widened when he saw Moira, and he sat down without saying a word.

  
“Mother, this is Tobias, my husband. Tobias, this is my mother, Moira Prince.”

  
“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”

  
They drove to London using the shortcut, arriving in seven minutes to the garage.  
It took a few minutes for any conversation to begin.

  
Moira broke first. “You have to understand, there really wasn’t anything I could do for you once you decided to marry a Muggle. I don’t have any access to Muggle life, I couldn’t send you any monetary help because you lived with them. Really, if you did have to get married to the babydaddy, why couldn’t you have gotten pregnant by a wizard? It’s not that I have anything against Muggles,” she said, noticing the scowl that had appeared on Tobias’s face, “but you turned your back on your own family, you could have danced in my company, but no, you had you go a join a Muggle troup.”

  
“As if I’m the first witch to do that,” Eileen scoffed.

  
“You had to do that to support your husband, I know.”

Tobias by this point was getting quite angry. Takeshi took him by the arm and walked with him into the kitchen.

  
“I never lived off my wife, yes, she worked but I kept money coming in, maybe not a lot, but I wasn’t any deadbeat.”

  
“I know, Toby, but your mother in law …. all talent, no heart.  In her defense, she couldn’t do anything for you financially, since she has no connection with the Muggle world economy in any way. And you had to live in the Muggle world. That statute, it creates a lot of problems.”

Tobias took another puff of hashish vapor. “I know how hard it was for her, to be so isolated, stuck with just me. I hated all that responsibility. I hated having to go back to the factories, until they closed and the jobs went away. I just didn’t want to go live in that world, most of those witches and wizards feel us Muggles are untouchables.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Toby.”

 

Just then Emerald came into the kitchen, and got out a bottle of applejack. “They’re still in the combative drunk stage, I need to get them so drunk they get sentimental. Takeshi, why don’t you cook something for us?”

Takeshi put on some coffee, brought out an apple pie to warm up, and began to make sausage and mash. He sliced some bread, brought out butter and Avalon honey. He got out an ice cream maker, handed it to Tobias, with the ingredients, including vanilla beans.

  
“We might as well stay here for a while, out of the fire zone, they’ve got decades of shit to get through.”

 

Takeshi got out a tray and plates, setting up three place settings with cutlery, butter, honey, and dished out the sausage and mash, as well as filling three mugs with strong coffee.

  
He waited a moment. The sound of muted voices from the front room stopped. “That’s my cue.” He brought in the tray, set it on the coffee table, and went back to the kitchen without saying a word.

“There were a lot of handkerchiefs in use,” he told Tobias.

  
When the ice cream was finished, Takeshi took the pie out of the oven, now warmed and radiating the comforting aroma of apple pie, sliced three pieces, put them on plates and put a scoop of ice cream on each piece. He put the plates on a tray and brought them out to the women, then retreated to the kitchen. The two men finished the pie and ice cream, then went to their rooms to get some sleep while the women got their problems worked out.

 

By midnight, the party goers had all been shuttled to Hogwarts. Cordelia got started on the thank you cards, while Eli, Severus, Alice, Eleutheria, and Vivienne sprawled out on the sofas in the library.

  
“So, Severus,” Cordelia said. ‘What did you think of your grandmother?”

  
“At least she had enough class to stay in the background at the party, but that outfit …” said Alice. “My mother said she was a fabulous dancer, but she really just dumped your mother at your grandfather’s doorstep?”

  
“After meeting your grandfather, I can say she did the right thing, he’s a wonderful man.”

  
“She tried to do her best, but she just didn’t have it in her to be a mother, and she knew it. She sent the best nurse, the best governess, paid tuition in school, for mother and for me,” Severus said. “And neither of my grandparents could help us, since they had no connections with Muggles and we lived in the Muggle world.”

 

Cordelia laughed. “You know they met here, at my Beltane party, I never would have picked the two of them to pair off!”

  
“I know,” Alice said. “I wonder what they’re talking about now?”

  
Eli giggled. “I’m glad my mother and father are there, to prevent any mayhem.”

  
“You know what’s interesting, neither Grandfather nor Grandmother minded my mother getting pregnant by a Muggle, they just didn’t want her to marry him. They thought it was not workable, because of apartheid, it’s all but impossible to live in both worlds. So few places will allow mingling, only a few places, a few venues, a few buildings, like where you have your flat that got a grandfather exemption when the Law went into effect, and she followed her husband. And Father felt that having a child out of wedlock was by far the worse sin.”

 

Cordelia folded up a sheet of paper and placed it with a stack of cards and envelopes. “Here is a list of the presents and who gave them to you, try and get the thank you cards done sometime tomorrow,” she said. “What are you going to bring with you to the dorm?”

He looked over the table where all of the presents had been placed. “Most of this is for the loft, I can set up a lab there where we can work undisturbed. Tell me something, did you set up a registry for me, so I would get all of the things I need?”

  
“That was actually your mother’s idea, Severus, she knows you want to do research, your grandfather agrees.'

  
“All of Slytherin put in for your lab supplies, Severus. Even the ones who don’t speak to you. If for no other reason than to reward you for the house points you’ve contributed. You aced the OWLs and will do the same with the NEWTs.”

 

Severus, Eli and the house elves moved the laboratory equipment to the loft. As Severus was figuring out how to set things up, he asked her, “Are you sure you don’t mind sharing your space?”

  
“Of course not,” she said. “It’s so convenient! We can set up the library room and use the floos to go back and forth, get a lot of work done.”

He looked at her and smiled. And a lot of play done, he thought to himself.

 

The next morning they slept in. They ate breakfast with the horses, then packed up the things Severus planned on keeping in the dorm. He brought his complete formal kimono, with the jacket embroidered with gold and silver, a lot of chocolates left over from the party, and some of the books he’d gotten from his grandfather. They rode BlackJack and Yojimbo to the gamekeeper’s cottage, where they joined Hagrid doing his rounds, tending the various flora and fauna. They dropped off the books and study materials in their library room, then went to the Slytherin common room.

Two students came up to Eli and asked about when she’d be available for the Runes class. Severus took his bag to his dorm room, where George was just getting up. He admired the kimono that Severus put on display, on its rack. “I have to get three more, for different seasons. They gave me swords, I’m keeping them at the Farm.”

George smiled. “That family of Eli’s sure has been good for you.”

  
“Not just for me, for my parents, too. I wish that my parents hadn’t broken off with Takeshi for so long.”

  
“You don’t have to answer this but . . . I gotta ask . . .”

  
Severus tilted his head. “You mean what’s the sex like. The thing is, both of us have no basis of comparison, but I’d say it’s a lot more than I had thought, I mean, I knew it would be great but it’s a lot more than that. It’s amazing, I just don’t have the words.”

“I was wondering how long it would take,” George said. “You never noticed, did you? Her face always glows when she looks at you. Half of the guys are jealous of you and so are quite a few of the girls. Everyone else is terrified of her.”

Severus nodded. He thought of what she’d said to him when they were headed for the ceremony, “Now no matter what happens to me, if your feelings about me change, you’re a part of the family. You’re not alone anymore, Severus. I’m happy you’ll be taken care of.”


	6. Who's Sorry Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I like Wolfstar. Both Sirius and Remus have Mother Issues, which contributes to their bonding; neither really trusts females. The more I write about Remus the more I like the poor chap.

The day after the party they had appointments with their professors to discuss the independent study projects they had decided on.

  
The first meeting of the day was with Horace and Albus. Horace said they would be using a text recently published in Prague, that hadn’t been approved by the Ministry department of education. “We’re still using texts that weren’t new when I was a student,” Horace said, “But this class is different and we can set our own agenda. I have texts for you and your friends.”

 

“On our own time, at the Farm, Severus and I have a project. I’ve been doing some research and I suggested to Severus that we try and duplicate, if not improve, on the research into potions controlling lycanthropy being done at the Institut Pokročilých Magických Studií in Prague. Very progressive educational system, compared to Hogwarts. Severus agrees it’s an interesting project. Here are some of the field reports coming out of Transylvania, from the St Vlad’s Hospital.” She handed Horace a stack of journals. “I promise I won’t introduce any banned ingredients from Faerie. But why not try and see if there are ingredients here that have the same effect?”

“Are you saying that you’re going to try to duplicate the treatments used in Faerie, using Terran ingredients? That’s brilliant,” Horace said. “And perfectly legal.”

Albus smiled. “Severus, Eli, that’s a great project. I think it speaks to your strength of character that you would want to help those afflicted, all things considered.”

“I agree with Eli, it’s not his fault, and she’s right about how those who have the disorder are so discriminated against. It’s time to end the stigmatization of lycanthropy,” Severus said. “And if his disease was not so anathematized, Lupin wouldn’t have to hide in the shadows and he’d be no danger to himself and others.”

 

While this meeting was going on in Albus’s office, Minerva was talking to Remus and Sirius in hers. “I don’t need to know the details of what’s going on with you two,” she said, “but you must understand there can’t be any . . . drama. Whatever your problems are, you need to keep them out of Hogwarts. You’re of age, so you are free to come and go. You don’t have to sneak around. Just walk out the front door and come back when you’re ready to conform to certain standards. I’m counting on you, Lupin, to make sure Black takes his potions and stays away from too much alcohol. Potter and Evans are too wrapped up in their romance to be helpful, not that Potter is any more responsible than Black is.”

“I can promise you that I will earn your trust as prefect,” Remus said, his face frozen. He hadn’t looked at Sirius. Not once. Last night, he stayed in his room. He didn’t go to dinner, he didn’t go to breakfast.

 

Sirius discovered that he was still unpopular with the other Griffyndors for causing so many demerits they were in last place now. Several Gryffindors were proudly wearing their snowflake necklace, proof they had been invited to Severus’s party. He spent his time in his room. James was out snogging with Lily somewhere, he had only Peter to talk to. And he was realizing he didn’t much like Peter. Had he ever? Remus was the one who kept everyone together, like Lily. She certainly had changed James for the better, since they began going out. It’s like she put some kind of spell on him, but her magic was not with wands or charms, it was just part of the way she was. Without James to run wild with, and now, with Remus turning his back, Sirius felt alone, and he hated to be alone.

 

“I guess it’s time I grew up and stopped behaving like a hooligan. I can promise you, Professor Magonnagal, I will take the potions, I will smoke hashish when I’m feeling manic, and I won’t defy authority, including the house prefect.” He looked down at his hands. He still couldn’t look at Remus. It hurt too much and he wasn’t going to cry. “Thank you for giving me another chance.”

 

“That will be all, gentlemen. Let’s make sure that this final term ends well for all.” Minerva stood up to dismiss them. “You’re late for Potions.”

 

The two headed down the halls at a jog.

  
“Remus.”

  
_“What?”_

  
“I’m sorry. I know I have to mean it, not just say it. I don’t want to lose you,” Sirius said, choking up with unshed tears. “This was the first time in so long I was away from you, and it was the worst time of my life. Please forgive me. I guess it’s time to grow up, it’s inevitable, isn’t it? I . . . I need you in my life.”

  
“Things have to change.”

  
“I know. I meant what I said. I will comply with what you want of me.”

  
“You’d better.”

  
“I love you.”

  
“I wish you didn’t. I wish I didn’t love you.”

  
The two went to the Potions lab. It was strange to see the back table empty. It was good news for the rest of the class, because Horace graded on a curve.

 

Eli presented her outline for her thesis in Muggle Studies, about how rock and roll music evolved since the Southern Blues in America to punk rock, how it reflected social changes and issues. Severus never needed to take Muggle Studies, he’d lived it. He could have taught the class.

 

For Transfigurations, Eli proposed a study of the history of shapechanging with cross cultural comparisons.

 

Both were taking DADA, since none of the Marauders were enrolled. Severus would be testing out of Runes, since his OWL score had been so high.

 

They headed to the Professor Sprout’s office. They were taking a course in the medical properties of magical herbs and fungus, an honors class for a select few students. Eli had a list of plants that she had gotten from the alchemists and healers working in Prague on lycanthropy, with field workers collecting data in the Balkans. There was a certain amount of political involvement in the research, since some in the werewolf community declared they didn’t need a cure, they were fine the way they were.

Vivienne was already there, and Alice and Eleutheria joined them.  
Professor Sprout joined them. “I was talking to Horace about your project, Severus, it sounds interesting.”

“I prepared a list of plants for you, Professor,” Severus said, handing her a paper.

  
Pomona read the list.  
“I think I can get most of these easily, some not so easily. Lycanthropy, interesting choice. I thought they cured it in Faerie?”

  
“Oh, yes, ages ago, everyone who comes to this realm has to get vaccinated first, you know. I can’t use any of our plants, but maybe we can find Terran plants that will work the same. I could bring you samples, for research purposes only, of course.”

  
“Of course.”

  
“I thought all Faerie herbs and other medicinal substances were banned?” Eleutheria said.

  
“No, not quite,” Alice said. “It’s allowed to be used in research, and is banned only for human use here, so you can use Faerie potions on creatures, or in emergencies, if there is no other treatments available, on humans. Some of the Faerie things, like food, and mead and other drinks, are all right to use here, but can’t be sold.”

  
“That’s the reason Jeanne-Marie doesn’t treat humans here. She isn’t allowed to use the best medicines or treatments on humans, and simply won’t commit what amounts to malpractice.”

 

Vivienne spoke up. “I’m writing a term paper on werewolves in present day society. About how they are shunned, and there is virtually no treatment, how those who have it are often abandoned, treated horribly by their own families, locked up in cells once a month to howl and suffer. And a cure is possible, if there is enough interest in finding one. There is in the Balkans. They realized that stigmatizing the disorder and hiding it away actually promotes the spread. If the laws about lycanthropy were taken off the books, we could contain it easily, since the only vectors are humans.”

 

“I heard that they were working on legalizing lycanthropy in Middle Europe. About time someone did something useful,” Pomona said. She examined the books and journals that Eli presented to her. “hmmmm . . . Alexi Dubcek . . . we studied together years ago . . . “

 

“We met him in Rome, we were visiting Severus’s grandfather.”

 

Pomona looked at Severus. She was aware of his family, and how much he and his mother had to sacrifice for Eileen’s marriage. She’d worried about how bullied he’d been over the years by those boys from Gryffindor, she’d had many a discussion with Minerva about it. Minerva, in her opinion, allowed far too much bullying from her house, even encouraging it. She had told Albus several times about how those “Marauders” were breaking rules and attacking other students, especially Potter. She’d taught enough Blacks to expect arrogance and insanity from them, and Sirius was no exception.

 

She’d known about Lupin for years. She agreed with Albus, that the boy should be given a chance, but the problem was secrets never can be kept. Eventually, the truth prevailed. At least this was his last year and so far the Ministry showed no signs of knowing about Lupin’s malady.

 

 

Of course Remus found out about the nature of the research that the Friends were doing. He noticed in the library how they were checking out all of the material about werewolves and medical texts that addressed lycanthropy. Students discussed their projects freely, and Remus was an expert at being inconspicuous, so he overheard a lot. He went to Albus.

  
“Why are they doing this?” Remus asked Albus.

“Have you read the articles coming out of the Balkans about treating lycanthropy? They legalized the condition, but not the harm done. Just being a werewolf is not a crime, but harming other beings still is. So they need to find the most humane and effective treatments. I’m afraid we are a long way from being that tolerant.”

 

Remus clasped his hands together. “Why would they do that? Are they trying to out me?”

  
Albus shook his head. “Just the opposite. They want to help you, and as Severus pointed out, if your condition were not itself illegal, if there were treatment available to you, you could not have been used as a weapon. He says it was Eli’s idea. They spent some time in Rome with some of the best alchemists and potion masters in Europe over the holidays, and all of Eli’s friends thought it was a good line of research to pursue, since there are so many aspects to the problem. Vivienne is writing a paper on how wrong it is to treat a medical condition like a crime. She is such a crusader! Alice is researching the history of the laws.”

  
“So . . . so . . . they all know about me?”

  
“No, only Eli and Severus know what you are, and won’t reveal your condition to anyone without your consent.” He smiled at Remus. “She and I have had many a discussion about you, Remus. She doesn’t like you, nor does she dislike you, and your attention to her made her very uncomfortable, because your feelings were not, and would never be, requited. But she has nothing, except the actions of your friends, which you did not attempt to control or report, against you. She just prefers to keep her distance. I hope you respect that. So, how is Sirius doing?”

  
“Much better. The potions and the hashish are keeping him from drinking. He actually cares about his school work. And he’s even talking to his brother.”

 

Sirius realized this was his last chance to get to know his brother. Regulus was quiet, studious, and as the baby of the family, had been indulged. His mother never treated him the way she had Sirius. He’d learned very young to keep his head out of the crossfire, and never challenged any adult in the family, was always pleasant, smiling, and compliant to their faces. Sirius was learning that covered up a streak of rebelliousness, demonstrated by his relationship with Rhiannon Simmonds.

 

“Aren’t you afraid Mother will disprove of you talking to your ne’er do well brother, the one she burned out of the family tree?” Sirius had asked his brother one Saturday, at the Three Wizards pub with Rhiannon and Remus. “And a Muggleborn girlfriend?”

  
“She’s not going to know unless you tell her,” the boy said. “And you two don’t talk.”

 

Remus was thinking about his talk with Albus. He hadn’t confided in anyone about what he knew; Lily was too wrapped up in her romance to have time for their talks, and it was best not to even mention Severus or Eli to Sirius. He wanted to tell Eli and her friends what being a werewolf was really like. He wanted to tell his story. No one really wanted to know, none of his friends ever asked him about his feelings about being a werewolf, except Lily. He didn’t want to bare his soul in front of Peter, and Sirius just didn’t want to hear about it, he had so many of his own problems to deal with. He was the one who had to listen to Sirius’s songs of woe and dismay, he never got a chance to sing his aria of pain.

 

Remus was not impulsive. He generally thought things out, but he suddenly got an idea and knew he had to act on it before he chickened out.

  
“Sirius, I have to run some errands, how about meeting me in the shack tonight after dinner?”

  
He left before Sirius had a chance to answer. He used his secret path to the Shack and then hurried down the road to the entrance to Hillgate Farm. He knew that on the weekends Eli and the Friends would be there. There was a stone bridge over a stream, almost a small river, that flowed from the Farm to the lake, next to the gate to the driveway. The fast running stream, said to be full of trout, flowed between two rugged hills, alongside the drive to the house. Remus walked up the slope, and soon saw the house. He appreciated the placement of it; you couldn’t see it from the road, but because it was on the high ground, you could see the road, the lake, and Hogwarts from it, a beautiful vista.

 

Remus took a deep breath, walked up to the door, and used the dragon shaped door knocker. The door was answered by an elf wearing an elegant aubergine suit. Remus had been told that the Morgans were dedicated to elf rights, and that all of the elves on the property were free elves, some who had been rescued from abusive homes. She looked him up and down.

 

“May I help you?”

  
“Good afternoon. My name is Remus Lupin. I am a student at Hogwarts and in the same class as Eli le Fey. If she is available, I would like to see her, and her friends, if they are here.”

  
“Come with me.”

 

The elf led him to the library, and sat him down in a wing chair next to the fireplace, and she lit the fire with a wave of her hand. Remus had never seen Faerie fire up close before. The colors were different, the flames were purple, blue, and green, forming graceful shapes. There didn’t appear to be any fuel, the fire sprang up out of air. “Wait here. Would you like some coffee or tea?”

  
“Yes, please, I would love some coffee.”

  
“Cream and sugar?”

  
He nodded.

  
The elf left the room. Remus looked around him. The library was enormous. A male elf came in with a tray. He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and denim jeans. Remus noticed he had a slight limp and had vivid scars on his face and head. Remus tried to cover up the involuntary grimace he made when he saw the elf’s face. The elf smiled at him. “My former master did this to me. Cordelia fought a duel when she found out what he’d done to me.”

  
“What did she do to him?”

  
“He has the same scars I have, she did to him what he did to me.”

  
“Can’t you get them removed?”

 

“I don’t want to forget what happened, and I want others to see what he did to me.” He grinned. “And besides, Cordelia charmed his injuries, so that he would bear the same marks as me, and if I had them removed, his would go away, too. Every time he looks in the mirror, he has to remember what he did to me.”

 

The elf put the tray down on the table. There was a coffee service, and a plate with chocolate chip cookies. He left the room. Remus stirred sugar and cream in the coffee, which he didn’t really like, but he drank it because Eli loved it. He bit into a cookie. It was the best cookie he’d ever tasted. He was finishing his third cookie when Cordelia entered the library. He swallowed and stood up, bowing as she approached him.

 

She returned the bow, and sat down across from him. “Remus Lupin? Eli has never mentioned you to me. What do you want with her?”

 

“Ma’am, we are not friends, which is not my choice. I admire Eli a great deal. I’m a Gryffindor,” he said, noticing that Cordelia’s eyebrow had gone up slightly. “Professor Dumbledore told me, in confidence, of her projects and I would like to talk to her and her friends about it. You see . .. you see . ..,” he said, as his mouth got dry. “I . . . I . . . AM A WEREWOLF.”

  
Both of Cordelia’s eyebrows shot up. “So you’re the one! No, Eli didn’t tell me, I figured it out, I noted the goings on at the Shrieking Shack some time ago, come to think of it, that would have been your first year.’ She grinned. “I made Albus tell me, and I agree with him, and Eli, about how it’s wrong to treat them, you, like criminals, when it’s not in their control. As long as there were no problems, I would keep silent, but if anyone got hurt, you can bet I’d be leading the pack of villagers with pitchforks and torches.”

 

“I thought that maybe they would like to hear from a werewolf what it’s like.’

  
“That’s actually an excellent idea, Remus. Finish your coffee and let’s go find them.”

 

Cordelia took Remus to the barn, walking to the sliding doors to the dojo. She opened the door, where Eli and her friends were practicing kendo and bojutsu. Eli called out, “What is _he_ doing here?”

 

The other friends turned. They stared at him, weapons at the ready.

 

“He wants to talk to you. I think you should.” Cordelia knew that Eli would never allow Remus to her living space. “How about we go to the greenhouse?”

 

Eli and her friends all looked at each other. “This better be good, Lupin,” Eleutheria said in a growl. “What do you mean by coming here and bothering us?”

  
Eli and Severus had a pretty good idea what this was about.

  
They went to the greenhouse and sat down on benches near the orchid collection. Remus cleared his throat. “Professor Dumbledore told me about your class projects and I thought you might appreciate hearing from me. You see,” he said, looking at Eleutheria, Vivienne, and Alice, “I am a werewolf. Didn’t Eli tell you?”

  
“of course I didn’t tell them, they had no need to know,” Eli said.

  
Vivienne looked carefully at Remus. She’d never paid much attention to him at all, disliking him because of his friends, not because of anything he’d done to her or anyone else. She realized this was perfect for her research, talking about the horrors of living with the ridiculous and discriminatory rules for werewolves, and would provide her with insight she couldn’t get anywhere else.

 

“So that’s why you take so many sick days,” Alice said. “and always during the full moon, but who would have thought they’d let a werewolf in Hogwarts? If this ever got out it would be a disaster for Dumbledore.”

 

Eleutheria looked at Remus, who was looking down at his hands folded on his lap. “So that’s why the horses didn’t like you,” she said.

 

He nodded. “I was so desperate for any friends when I came here, and they accepted me, I couldn’t risk losing their friendship, without them I was nothing, just a loser with no money whose family had disowned him. That’s not an excuse, it’s an explanation.”

 

“It’s not all your fault,” Vivienne said. She got up and moved to the empty seat next to him and took his hand. “if you think it would help, you can tell me about the pain this has caused you, for something you didn’t ask for and didn’t deserve.”

  
Eleutheria said, “I hated how you covered for your rotten friends. You misused your authority and betrayed the trust of the school to let them almost get away with murder. I can understand why you did it now, but it really was unforgivable.”

  
Remus hung his head down. “I know. I spent a lot of time over break thinking about what I did, and what I didn’t do. I won’t ask for forgiveness because I don’t deserve it, but I do humbly apologize. I can never make up for my dereliction of duty. I thought being a werewolf was the worst thing that a person could be, but being a coward is worse.” He looked up at Eli, who glared at him with barely concealed anger. “I know I’m not supposed to be here, I was told to stay away from you. I hope you can understand why I did so, I had to face you and tell you how sorry I am for everything. I don’t want you to hate me.”

  
Eli rolled her eyes and snorted in contempt. “I’d have to have at least some respect for you to hate you. I don’t hate you, I just think you’re pathetic.”

  
Severus surprised Remus by saying in a harsh voice, “That’s enough, Eli. I’ve made my peace with him, and it took a great deal of courage for him to come here and face you. Back off. Let it go.” He picked up her hand, and they looked at each other. “If I can forgive him you can too. He’s not the one who tried to hurt me. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, worse than anything he did to me.”

  
Eli knew he was talking about the day he called Lily a mudblood.

  
“Severus, I had that coming. She is absolutely right. I am a coward. I blew whatever chance I had at being treated better when I went along with my friends when I knew they were wrong. I am not supposed to be here, I came here because I needed to tell someone about what it’s like to be a werewolf. No one ever wants to know. Oh, my friends have helped me out, but they won’t talk about it, and would never have done what you’re doing, making a real effort to cure me and others who suffer with this. It’s like I’m their disabled little pet or something. Pity the poor unwanted boy who turns into a savage beast once a month, but let’s not let him talk about it. I think the main reason they’ve helped me out is because they enjoy breaking rules and getting away with things. Severus, you made one mistake, you said something you didn’t mean when you were under duress. I kept repeating mine and I knew it was wrong all along, and there were no extenuating and mitigating circumstances. You never, by omission or commission, endangered anyone’s life. If there is any way I can help your research, if you want blood samples or whatever, I would be honored.”

 

Tabby came into the greenhouse. “Cordelia, can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? More cookies?”

  
Remus looked up and smiled at the house elf. “Those were the best cookies I ever had,” he said. He was a bit surprised to hear the elf address the lady of the house by her first name, but he never had any contact with free elves.

  
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Cordelia asked him.

  
Lupin looked at her and smiled shyly. “Thank you, I would like that.”

  
“I know it’s a little early, but I’m hungry now. I’m sure we’d all like to hear your story, it is a civil rights issue and your perspective, as a victim of a malady treated like a crime is important to hear. I’ll help you get dinner ready.” She left the group and went with Tabby.

 

Eli was not looking at Remus. She resented his presence and wished that Albus hadn’t told him of their project. Now they would have to deal with his gratitude, which she didn’t want.

  
Severus had more or less made his peace with Remus, after getting a letter from him begging for forgiveness during the holiday break. Remus confessed one of the main reasons that he had gone along with the persecution of Severus was because he was jealous of Eli’s friendship with him. Severus understood; it was similar to how he felt about Potter. Remus acknowledged that Severus never was the aggressor in the conflicts between him and the Marauders, and wrote that he was trying to get James to stop the attacks.

 

Severus didn’t like Remus. There were just too many hard feelings from all of the abuse he had taken over the years. He wasn’t trusting by nature, and he found Remus’s willingness to go along to get along to be enough reason to keep him at arm’s length. Eli felt the same. Had Remus taken a stand against the bullying before it got so out of hand reports were made, she might have liked him. But she couldn’t trust an appeaser, a collaborator. Trust and loyalty were vitally important to both of them.

 

Eli looked Remus in the eye. “I hope you realize that I am not doing this for you, but for everyone who suffers from this horrible malady. Don’t get the wrong impression.” She turned away.

 

Alice noticed that Remus was blinking rapidly, and his lower lip was trembling. She got to her feet and pointed out the roses. “Remus, aren’t these gorgeous? Cordelia breeds roses and orchids. These are my favorites,” she said, pointing out some bushes with purple blooms, the same color as Eli’s eyes, Remus noticed. “Take a whiff.”

 

Remus got up and went to the rosebush. He put his nose to a blossom and inhaled. It was intoxicating. He smiled blissfully. The aroma was like inhaling the best spell of happiness. Eli saw his reaction, and fetched a clipper, cut off one of the blooms and handed it to him.

  
“Now you can’t say I never gave you anything but a hard time.” She went to a hanging basket of orchids. The blossoms, from a distance, looked like tiny pixies. You couldn’t tell they were flowers until you got up close to them. “These are fun, I loved them when I first saw them.”

 

Remus held the flower like the most precious thing he owned. He wondered what purple roses meant in the language of flowers. (http://www.lillysrosegarden.com/rose-colors-symbolism.html ). Alice walked with him through the rows of plants, sniffing the roses and admiring their beauty, until Cordelia came back.

  
“We’re eating in the main hall today, in honor of our guest. We usually eat in the kitchen,” she said to Remus, “but I thought you’d prefer a more private setting to discuss your malady.” She led him, with the others following behind, to the main hall. Remus was impressed by the house and its furnishing. He was aware that this house was considered one of the most beautiful in wizarding world, and he understood why.

 

They sat at the table, which had place settings and food put at one end. Remus began to tell about his childhood, not particularly idyllic, before he was attacked. His parents were at best indifferent to him, but after he was bitten, they were ashamed of him and dumped him at St Mungos and never visited. He hadn’t seen them since the attack, sending him to the facility under the care of a hired babysitter. They never even said goodbye to him. He described the lonely ordeal of his childhood, locked in a bare, windowless room at the so-called hospital. Alice was disgusted.

  
“I hope I never have to go there, they sound horrible, more like Azkaban than a place to heal,” she said.

 

After they finished eating, Tabby came to the hall and handed Remus a bag full of cookies. She felt pity for the boy, and loved having her cooking appreciated. He thanked her profusely.

  
“We’d better get cracking on that experiment,” Eli said. She and the Friends took their leave of Cordelia, who told Remus to come with her, and she would take him where he wanted to go.

 

Remus carefully wrapped the rose in the handkerchief he had picked off of the floor when Eli left the dance floor at the Yule ball. He kept it in a mojo bag around his neck which he took off only to bathe. He tucked the wrapped flower under his shirt, next to his heart. Cordelia noticed this and recognized the handkerchief. “That poor boy,” she thought to herself. Unrequited love at that age was horrific. Eli had told her about how she dropped it at the dance and didn’t want it back. On some level she felt his pain but knew better than to give him any false hope. Let him keep the thing, she had plenty more.

 

The two went to the front door and there was a sleigh waiting, with a troika hitch of her prized Fresians. The horses snorted and stamped when they smelled Remus, and she saw the sadness on his face. He told her he had always loved animals and felt that the worst thing about being a werewolf was how they feared him. She understood why Albus had taken the boy under his wing.

  
“Where to, Remus?” Cordelia asked him.

  
“I’m supposed to meet my friend at the Shack.”

 

She drove down the drive at a walk. The Shack was nearby and she wanted to talk to him.

  
“Don’t get your hopes up, the research is not going to be easy, and it may be years before any real cures can come about. From what I understand, a big part of the problem is how lycanthropy affects your DNA . ..and the reality is our medicine doesn’t even know what that’s about. Muggles do. The Fey do. Gene therapy is something our healers know nothing of, and what’s worse, they refuse to even try to understand it. Potions and spells can at best only reduce the signs and symptoms.”

 

Remus nodded. “I get it. I suppose it’s easier to just warehouse and marginalize us.”

 

“I hope you realize that Eli still has some issues about the incident. She was just about insane with rage, Severus means a lot to her.”

  
“She must really love him.”

  
“There’s a lot more than love between them. If anything had happened to him, things would have happened, things that I would rather not even speculate about. I know I can trust you not to mention this to anyone, but she is here to protect him, he is a child of destiny, if you will. I am not privy to the details, what I do know is that Avalon needs him, your realm needs him. Had he been killed . .. well, it would have been disastrous to both realms. I’m afraid Eli is still a bit immature and hasn’t yet learned to control her emotions. She would have, what is that Muggle saying, gone postal, and unleashed some of her more destructive powers. And your future would be not be worth living in. I don’t understand it all, only the Crones really get it. I do know you have a role in what’s to come.”

 

“How do you know this? Are you a Prophet?”

  
“No, not really, but I do have the Sight, it gets stronger in women the older we get. You know how the Morgan women never marry? We have, for generations, mixed Faerie blood with ours, before the Separation and ever since. We are not of the Fey, it’s on the male line, you see, to be one of them your mother has to be one. We have children with the best, well, breeding stock. You know your Ministry doesn’t want to know of this. They denied the very existence of Avalon, of the Fey, the Druids, they can’t handle the truth. I’m afraid the future doesn’t look very pleasant.”

 

She smiled at him and patted his hand. “Don’t ask me to tell you your future, that is unethical.”

  
“Why? People do that.”

  
“Not the real prophets, since the future is mutable, and there are so many factors involved, it complicates things too much. If I told you what will happen to you, you would be tempted to change it and that could result in catastrophe, as we’ve seen in history. You would change the future and thus the prophecy would not happen. It’s usually best to let things be and let the experts deal with it. Oh, sometimes exigent circumstances require extraordinary effort, but very rarely. It’s usually better to let the pattern unfold and be prepared to deal with the consequences, say, I knew a plague was coming, I’d be better off stocking up on medicine and preparing medical facilities rather than trying to stop the plague from happening.”

 

She looked across the lake. “You realize that Eli was sent here for that reason. Due to an incompetent Terran prophet in the future, Severus will be killed, and he is someone who is needed to prevent, well, the end of the world as we know it. There are forces, some call them daemons, who want to destroy everything.”

  
“I thought they weren’t here, like they are in the Rim of Fire territory.”

  
“They aren’t here, yet, not in physical form like they are overseas, but they are able to get inside the minds of some of us and get us to do their bidding. They targeted Severus because he’s so important. Your friend’s attempt to kill him using you as a weapon was one of their plots.”

 

Remus felt a chill inside his soul. “You mean Sirius is possessed? “

  
“Yes. They like to use those who, how shall I say, already have problems?”

  
“What can I do?”

  
“It’s vitally important that you do NOT reveal this to him, or anyone else, for that matter. It would tip off the daemons that you were on to them. The only way to beat the daemons inside him is with love, with courage. He is struggling, he is on the cusp, he could go either way. You can help by growing to be a good man, to not let go and his love for you will help him beat those forces in his mind. You are important in the conflict, Remus. You’re a lover, not a fighter, and both are needed in the conflict. Eli is a figher. The difference is that fighting can destroy a lover, and love will always destroy a fighter. Sevurus is the rarest of them all, he is both. His spirit is indestructible. Most people are neither. They are to be pitied, I think.”

 

They were very near the shack. Cordelia pulled up the horses and said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come back to the Farm. Eli gets really defensive about protecting her space, you saw that today. If you’d ever like to speak with me again, send me an owl and we can meet elsewhere. I like you, Remus. I will be happy to help you if you need it. I’m glad we had this chance to talk, dear.”

  
She kissed his cheek. “Be well.”

  
Remus didn’t know what to say. He got out of the sleigh and went to the door of the shack. Sirius was waiting for him, and was watching out of the window.

 

Sirius got to the shack early. He skipped dinner and waited impatiently for Remus. He had moments of anxiety and near panic, thinking he’d been stood up. He had visions of Remus with other men, with women. What would he do without Remus, the only one who he needed, whose love had sustained him. Thinking of an endless future without him was so painful, he wanted to curl up on the floor and die, considered various ways to end his own life rather than exist in the gray, cold void of living without love. It hit him in the pit of his stomach, even caused him to dry heave, glad that he hadn’t eaten any dinner. His mother had been right. He was worthless. He was garbage. She should have gotten an abortion.

 

He couldn’t concentrate on reading the book he’d brought with him. He alternated between pacing the room, looking out the windows, and sitting with his head in his hands on the blanket he’d brought with his book bag. He conjured a smokeless flame in the dilapidated fireplace, brewed a pot of hot tea against the chill.

 

When he heard the sleighbells outside, he got up, shoulders sagging and slouched over, and looked out the window. The sleigh looked familiar, but he didn’t recognize the woman, of a certain age, driving the horses.

  
Remus opened the door.

  
“Have you been waiting long?” Remus said.

  
“I got here early. Who was that?”

  
“Cordelia Morgan.”

  
“How did you meet _her?_ ”

  
“I went to Hillgate farm to speak to Eli and Severus. If you’d paid attention to the gossip, you’d know that Eli, Severus, and their friends are doing research into treating and maybe even curing lycanthropy.” He held out the bag. “Would you like a cookie?”

  
Sirius took the bag and removed a cookie. He took a bite. It was the best chocolate chip cookie he’d ever eaten.

  
“Why are they doing this?” Sirius asked.

  
“Because no one else here is. Eli has a new approach. They are going to try and recreate, with Terran ingredients, the treatment developed long ago by the medical Druids in Avalon. You never let me talk about my problems, it’s always about you. I’ve been reading up on what they are doing in the Middle Europe universities. Did you know that it is no longer a crime to be a werewolf there? It’s still against the law to harm any creatures, of course. If you pose a danger they put you where you can’t hurt anyone, with lots of hashish and other calmers. Speaking of hashish, you look like you need some.”

 

He went over to the hearth, sat down on the blanket and took a hashish vaporizer out of his coat pocket. “I could use some too.” He activated the vaporizer and took three deep inhalations. “They’re doing this not because they like me, they’re doing this because they don’t want me and others afflicted with this curse to suffer. That’s what I call noble. Honorable. Being the sort of person I’d like to be.”

 

  
He went to the fire and made himself a cup of tea. “This is nice, a fire and some hot tea.” He smiled at Sirius.

 

Sirius sat on the blanket with Remus, and ate another cookie. “This must be Faerie chocolate,” he said.  He took the vaporizer and took three deep inhalations.

 

  
“I guess one of the reasons I had it in for Severus because of how Eli felt about him. I’m sure you notice the way she looks at him, with that smile on her face, how those eyes of her shine, those freaky eyes, with a glowing aurora, reflecting light like a cat’s. And he gets better looking when he’s basking in the light that shines from her. I wanted that. Didn’t think old Snivellus deserved it. And then, imagine what she’s like in bed. I’ve heard that Faerie sex is the best, they can get inside your head, they know what you’re feeling and what you like best, don’t have to be told, they know. , They can even switch gender, they do this thing, and transform into what they would be if they had been born that way. A lot better than just cross dressing, I’d think. You know how I like girls, I enjoy a bit of hetsex, but I just don’t want to let any of them own me, and they always want to domesticate you. You can’t trust any of them, that’s why I can’t love them. I can love only you, Remus.”

  
“Have you ever considered that maybe you don’t trust women because you hate and mistrust your mother? It’s understandable. I don’t think all women are like her. Not that I have any first hand experience.”

  
“Do you want to?”

  
“Well, I wouldn’t want to go through my life with one hand tied behind my back.”

 


	7. Candlemas in Prague

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli and the Friends go to Prague, Remus and Sirius are invited for treatment, Eli and Lily realize they have to start communicating, as the shadow of Tom Riddle looms over Hogwarts

The room in the library became the meeting place for the Friends that January as they worked on their Honors projects. They decided that a trip to Prague was needed, to communicate with the researchers there. Vivienne’s essay about the essential injustice of criminalizing a medical condition was well received and published in the university journal. Alice had been following the process of changing the laws in the Central autonomous region, including the provision decriminalizing the use of substances and plants from the Faerie realm. 

Severus sent word to his grandmother that he and his friends would be spending three days at Candlemas in Prague. She sent back an invitation for all of his party to stay with her in her home. Her company was rehearsing for the Spring season, she hoped they understood she would be very preoccupied. They all breathed a sigh of relief. 

Moira Prince owned a large house, formerly the home of a mysterious Bohemian princess, who married a wizard. It was near the theater where her troupe rehearsed and performed. The ballroom was converted into a studio where she spent most of her time putting the final polish on the repertoire. She set up the library for her grandson and his friends, and gave them the use of two adjoining guest suites near the back stairs, so they could get to the kitchen easily. 

Eli and Severus loved the magic department at Charles University. There were many portals on the campus, accessible only to the initiated. Professor Dubcek provided them with the access spell, where they were welcomed by his colleagues.  
“We’ve been very interested in your experiments,” he said. “We’re trying the same approach, using the potions and ingredients from Faerie. We would be honored if you would allow us to publish your findings, and credit you with coming up with the idea. We plan on getting vaccine as soon as possible, following the protocols that the Druids came up with. It’s important to get the vaccines out quickly.”

Professor _________ spoke up. “You realize we are getting protests organized against us in the Balkans, the werewolves are declaring that they should not be treated as if they were diseased, even though they are. Decriminalizing their condition seems to have gone to some of their heads, now they think they are some sort of oppressed minority. It’s only a few of them; most of the volunteers we’re getting in the potions trials say they would risk anything to rid themselves of the curse, that’s the word they use.” 

Vivienne shook her head. “Why on earth would anyone want to be a werewolf? Only a sociopath would want to ability to cause pain and terror.”

Severus looked thoughtful. “I suppose that those without any talent, with no power, might want the ability to cause suffering, lashing out against a world that they feel rejected them, sometimes power, especially what is labeled ‘dark’ power, goes to their heads, you see that pattern in psychohistory.”

The assembled academics nodded. “It’s a part of the psychopathology,” Eli said. “You can’t really force treatment, but you can confine them for their own protection, that’s clear in the laws, right, Alice?”

Alice agreed, “Yes, for the 96 hours of the full moon, they must be kept in secured areas.”

“There appears to be some success with using high doses of opium and hashish. Just keep giving it to them until they go to sleep.” 

“Did you try adding a tincture of the purple flowers from Avalon?” Severus asked. “Just a few drops, sublingually, or put into any drink, recommended in the original texts.” 

“We haven’t tested it on any patients, yet. Have you got any leads on a Terran substitute for it? Damned silly rules you’ve got to abide by, your Ministry just doesn’t want to admit it’s time to change, you can’t pretend that things will always be the same.’

“It may be possible to combine some Terran ingredients to have the same effect as the flowers,” Alexi said. “I have been communicating with Pomona about this. That Ministry, they let politics get in the way of healing, like they know best.” He laughed. “Maybe we should write the laws, since they are now prescribing and proscribing what healers do.’

Vivienne approached the healers in the group. She handed them Remus’s case file, that her older sister Rafaela provided. She had been assigned his case when she was interning at St Mungos, in case he was re-admitted. Most lycanthropy patients never returned, they either left the region or were disposed of by the inhabitants in self defense. She’d gotten a notarized power of attorney from Remus, with his request to volunteer to test and Tx, Rx, whatever. 

“He told me he could come here after the term is over, at the beginning of June. If that’s convenient.”

The healers smiled. “Yes, I’ve read your accounts of his life, and we would gladly try to help him.”   
“I’ll send and owl immediately,” said Alexi. 

 

Remus was overjoyed when he received the owl from Prague. He fed the owl dinner and quickly penned a letter of acceptance. It would be a good break for Sirius, a chance to get him into treatment, get his daemon under control, they knew how to do that in Bohemia. 

The first night the Friends were in Prague, they explored the magical quarter, returning to Moira’s house quite late. The kitchen always had someone doing something, there was always food being prepared. The house elves were free elves, of course. Moira was sitting at the table with some of her dancers. She greeted them with her usual dramatic flair, getting up to serve her grandson and his friends herself. He did remind her of his grandfather, the same black eyes and hair. He’d gotten her pale white skin, as had Eileen, who was “her mother’s body with her father’s head on top” as someone described her. Severus turned out better than she could have expected. She didn’t say it to his face, but she was overjoyed he’d gotten involved with a Faerie. From a rich Wizarding family on the male line. She wondered how difficult it would be to get Eli to hook her up with some Faerie musicians, she was already getting ideas about new ballets. 

 

Remus brought the letter to Sirius’s room. James and Peter were gone. He handed Sirius the letter. 

“This is amazing! Can I come along?” Sirius said, grinning.

“Of course. I wouldn’t go without you. For better or for worse, we need each other.”

“We make each other stronger . . . just like Eli and Severus. I just wish there was some way to make up all the bad things we, I did to them.”

James walked into the room, yawning. “Spent hours cramming for the Runes NEWTs . . . my grades are going down thanks to that Faerie, she’s got her little friends raising the curve.” 

Remus handed James the letter. “Thanks to that Faerie, I’m going to help find a cure for lycanthropy.’

James’s eyes opened wide as he looked at the document. “This is incredible. You know, it’s ironic; the Muggle politics in Bohemia are repressive, but the Wizarding laws are a lot more progressive. There’s a Travel Advisory about that entire region, including the Balkans and Eurasia, warning tourists against going into their territory.”

“And I can get some help with Sirius’s problems, to get rid of the daemon mother who twisted his mind. They’ve got some interesting treatments there, rather like the peyote rituals, remember them from Comparative Magic?”

James nodded. “Yes, Sirius, time to roll with the changes. In a few months we’ll be on our own. I’m getting married after graduation. You both have to be there, of course. 

The next morning at breakfast they told Lily about going to Prague. She was flashing her ring with a glorious smile, and all of the girls in the house all told her how lucky she was. She picked up the letter and read it. “That is so wonderful, that they would do that for you, Remus, after all of the hard times you, we put Sev and Eli through. He’s got Eli and her entire clan at his back now, all’s well that ends well, I hope. You know, I heard from one of Alice’s friends, they are staying with Moira Prince!” And his grandfather was Severus Valerius, the authority on the Strega and the various magical traditions that made Rome great. The library is full of his books, which you’d know if you spent any time there. I had no idea he had such famous grandparents, he never talked about them. I think his mother got cut off when she married a Muggle.”

Remus took Lily’s hand and gazed into the infinity cut emerald, set in heavy gold, carved with runes. “It matches your eyes,” he said. “It’s big enough to use it for scrying.”

“I know you want to get there as soon as you can,” Lily said. “So why not have our wedding on June 1st? In Little Hangleton? Everyone can stop by on their way home from Hogwarts. I can get a pass for my family to attend, can’t I?” 

“I don’t know about your family, but your parents, yes, that is traditional.” James said.

“How do you know that?”

“Believe it or not, I was in the library reading about the laws and traditions of matrimony,” James said with a grin. “Figured I’d better find out what I was getting into. I think it’s great, what Eli and Sniv—err, Severus are doing. Prague is said to be magnificently magical, maybe Lily and I can stop by, we’re planning on drifting over the Continent, ride the trains, see the sights, play some pickup quidditch.” 

The three days passed quickly as the Friends attended lectures, helped with the preparation of potions, and Eli taught them some ancient healing spells. The day after they returned, Eli got an owl from Lily, asking her to meet in the lady’s room after lunch. They went to the corner and sat on a bench. Lily greeted Eli with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “That’s from Remus, he is so grateful to you for helping him, and Sirius. I thought I’d let you know that James and I are getting married two days after graduation. You and I know that Severus is going to have a bad reaction to this.”

“It’s not unexpected, he saw you with that ring and knows what it means.” 

“You know I can’t invite you or Severus, James isn’t ready yet. And now that Sirius and Remus are getting some treatment, I’m sure it won’t be long before we can put all this aside. We’re going to wander the Continent, drop in on Remus and Sirius, James wants to try out for teams, you know.”

‘You know, it just might work out, he’s good. Why not give it a shot? But do you want to be a Quidditch wife?” 

“Oh, we want to have children, he was alone, no immediate family, and my family is going to be, well, a lot more distant, due to the Law. They never really accepted me being a witch, that’s why Severus was so important to me when I discovered what I was. My sister hates him, my father says the Snapes are no good, my mother told me to dump him when it became obvious that Severus wanted to be more than a friend.”

She grabbed Eli’s hand with her left hand. Eli gazed at the emerald ring. “Did James say where he got that ring? I can feel the power from here. That’s my favorite cut of stone, it’s like looking into infinity.” 

“He said it was his mother’s,” Lily said. “I was so glad when you came along. Severus needed you. I hope you know one of the reasons I was so cold to him was to drive him to you, I knew how you felt about him, but you would never make a move until you were certain I would never want him. And I know if I changed my mind, you would politely bow out and never touch him again. Both of you are so noble, like what you’re doing for Remus and Sirius, finally getting them some help with their problems. Sirius had a horrible childhood, his mother . . .”

Eli laughed. “Cordelia told me all about that woman. I can believe any horror story about her. No wonder he has so many issues with women.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “You’re telling me . . . all these years, all those girls coming to ME about the problems with Sirius, always just hit and run, they all thought they were The One and Only, at least that’s what he told them and they believed him. I tried to warn them at first, but that never worked.” 

“I’ll tell Regulus where his brother will be going. Maybe he can come out, too. What is it about those Blacks, I wonder, so inbred, so much bad craziness. From what I can tell, Mother Black was always nice to her baby, unlike Sirius. And then that batty Narcissa, chasing my father around and then coming after me!”

‘I hope you know that the reason I was always so stand offish to you was because I knew of the pain you caused Severus.”

“I figured that out a long time ago. We can only move on from here. Once we’re out of school, when things settle down, I’m sure you and I can get James and Severus to sit down and talk. I don’t think they will ever be best pals, of course. I know there are some hard times coming, the dreams are getting more terrifying and everyone who has anything to do with reading the stars have been getting more alarmed. Like if I have to tell a Faerie about the future.” 

Eli nodded. “All you can do is enjoy the times you’re in and be ready for the fight when it comes.” 

‘So what are your plans?”

“I have to go to Torayama and train with the mountain tigers, the daemons have been rattling their weapons in Tibet, instigating a takeover by Muggle troops, the attacks on the temples and sacred spaces always comes first. Severus is coming along with the rest of the family. In case you didn’t know, my older sister adopted him as her younger brother, and gave him general power of attorney over the estate. Because of the laws, you know, we’re not considered equal citizens under the Ministry laws. He and I have equal shares in everything. I know he wishes you the best, and let me assure you that if you ever need his help, or my and my family’s help, just reach out. We will be there. I still wish that you hadn’t caused the end of your friendship. You will always be first in his heart.” 

“I have to ask you, would you marry him if your people married?”

“Of course I would,” Eli smiled. “My family on both sides of the mists accept him. The College of Druids admires his intellect and his magic. His skills in alchemy are impressive. He is welcome in Faerie any time he wants to go there. But you called me here to talk about the snake man, didn’t you? You dreamed of him.”

“Yes. I did. The night I got this ring from James. I fell asleep looking into the depths of the stone. And I dreamed of that creature, he was laughing as he killed me. He said his name was Lord Voldemort . . .”

“His name is Tom Riddle. He made up that stupid name, so pretentious. He got hold of the wrong sort of magic, he’s completely delusional and charismatic, which is a horrible combination. The reason he looks like a sideshow freak is because he’s been using things he shouldn’t. Look, I don’t want to talk about this … you should try and talk to my father, he’s right in the middle of a shitstorm in the Ministry. He’s going to be here on Friday, he’s playing at our St Valentine’s dance.”

“I wonder how many girls will get their rings that night? It’s a school tradition.”

“You got the first one. That is a magnificent emerald. Exactly the same color as your eyes. I’ve got to get to the Runes study group. Be seeing you.”


	8. St Valentine's Dance

St Valentine’s Day Dance

Takeshi went to the studios at Hogwarts to practice with the musicians who wanted a chance to play on stage. He planned on spending most of the weekend at the school rehearsing. Eli told him about her talk with Lily and asked him to let her know more about the dangers.

“I saw it in her ring, it was a true omen. Maybe you could ask Mother to come along and have her talk to Lily?”

“That damned Riddle, I don’t know how he keeps getting away with murder. Most of the Ministry has been compromised, he’s bought out all who can be bought, with whatever currency they desire. He knows how to get in people’s heads. At least we’ve got the treaties signed, Hillgate Farm is now officially Faerie territory, in perpetua, we will use the house as the embassy, and Jeanne-Marie will have her hospital, where she can use Faerie treatments and medications. That idiot in charge was so preoccupied with all the stuff going on he wasn’t paying much attention to what he was signing,” Takeshi said with a sardonic laugh. “Riddle has his little agents in every department, and Aurors are being disappeared. Those pathetic cowards, they’re just handing Riddle the keys to the kingdom, without a fight, just like Quisling, like Chamberlain, like de Laudier. They all think they are so much better than Muggles, and they do the same stupid shit. We’d better get to the studio. I’ve got to figure out a song list and I think that because there are so many players, I’m going to do a lot of different material, we’ll start out with dance music, and you and Severus can show us your moves. I’ll want you onstage for the last set, that will be original material I’ve been working on. I know you are really busy with your class projects right now and don’t have a lot of time to practice.”

Severus, Alice, Vivienne and Eleutheria were busy on the potions, in constant contact with the researchers in Prague and Transylvania, as well as the College of Druids on the communication mirrors. Pomona had successfully cultivated the purple ‘wolfbane’ plant and was studying the properties of it, trying to find local plants that had the same effect, without toxicity.

Remus and Sirius would be joining other Hogswarts students, past and present, at a special Lupercalia celebration in Nocturne Alley. These were the students whose loves had to be concealed with fake romance, because ‘the love that dare not speak its name’ and was not permitted to dance, either. Or get married. This dance was basically for the girls who had gotten their rings before graduation, setting them up for June weddings. Many of the wizarding families were Old Believers at heart and just didn’t understand why the Muggle meme of Christianity was so popular, since the old festivals were a lot more fun. St Valentines? Some religious zealot who died horribly? What kind of mixed message is that? Professor Severus Valerius had written extensively about how adopting the paradigms of those who opposed you was cultural suicide.

“Tolerating the intolerant is a loser’s game,” as he often said. He was a true Roman scholar, he had his own beliefs, but accepted what others felt to be true, so long as they didn’t try to proselytize and dominate. If you didn’t like their festival just don’t go. Like those priests of Cybele. You didn’t want to be around them when they were all drugged out with sharp knives. He didn’t get the St Valentine holiday, just as he didn’t get Christmas. Especially since according to their own scripture, Jesus was born in the spring.

 

Severus asked Eli to wear the same dress she’d worn at the Yule party, the black beaded dress with the shawl and Phoenix headdress. Every day they had a dance lesson with Cordelia and the Friends. She decided to add a pair of sheer black silk tights, she didn’t want to be that serious a threat to the other girls who would be looking to announce their plans, and hopefully get a ring, or at least the public promise of ring. There was a betting pool on who would get ringed at the party in each house.

 

Emerald and Cordelia arranged to meet Lily at the teahouse in Hogsmeade, at a time when they knew that they would not be noticed or disturbed. Lily told them of the dreams, of the omens she had been getting. They told her of what was going on at the Ministry, of the plots, the intrigues, and the criminal activities on both sides of the developing conflict. “You have to be very careful who you trust, these sort of internecine battles are always savage and brutal to all.”

Cordelia nodded in agreement. “I’ve seen this before,” she said, thinking of the battles between Albus and Gellert. “There are no winners. Only the damaged survivors who tell their side of the story, and the victors get to decide which stories are told.”

Emerald picked up Lily’s left hand, gazed at the ring. “That is a very powerful stone, and it connects directly to your heart chakra. The women who wore this ring were all the wisest of witches. Heed the warnings the stone sends to you, especially in your dreams. Your heart is so strong, Lily.”

“I understand that you are going to Prague to see Remus and Sirius. They’ll be in good hands at the Institute. You can help their healers by telling them about their pathological thinking, magic, and behavior. Stay in the magical theater district, you’ll love it, so romantic. Dancing at the Palace, bring your best shoes and a great dress,” Cordelia said.

Emerald gazed into Lily’s eyes. “You realize we are doing this for the love of Severus, we all love him, and we love those he loves. His love for you will never die.”

Lily nodded. “I know you’ll understand, I’m going to tell you something I never told anyone, I have dreamed of a child, who asked to be born, and he asked that his father be James.”

Emerald and Cordelia looked at each other, smiled at Lily and took her hands in theirs.

Pomona had come up with a way to hybridize the Faerie purple flower with Terran plants. They hadn’t thought to ban that because they didn’t know it could be done, nor did they think to ask. They never read the academic journals.

This was the dance where the women’s dresses were at their most scandalous, and no one under 17 was admitted. Eleutheria noted it was the chance to get a look at the meat on the market. The Friends had once again raided Cordelia’s old wardrobes, choosing her most revealing dresses that made her the belle of every ball back when the century was young. They got assembled in Eli’s loft and their dates waited for them in the main house. Vivienne had selected a still closeted boy from a good family, a Hufflepuff. She wanted to invite Asimov, of course. She’d see him on Beltane, he invited her to the fires at the lakeshore in Avalon. She wore vibrant purple satin with lots of pearls. Alice wore ice pink chiffon with Cordelia’s emerald necklace. She knew she’d get her ring and that Frank was going to ask her as soon as they took their seats. They were seated in the corner with Eli and the musicians.

Eli vamped it up for the party. She put on a lot more makeup than she ever had, pomaded her hair so it gleamed, wore her chaos star earrings, and the diamond headband holding an aigrette of Firebird feathers, took the snake bracelet and wrapped it around her upper arm. The bracelet was charmed so that it was flexible until she put it on and ran her finger down the length of the body, and it would freeze in place until she wanted to remove it. It was 13 inches long, with emerald eyes and a ruby mouth with diamond fangs, the scales overlapping rose cut diamonds. She deliberately wore no rings at all. She wore a silk/cashmere paisley shawl, woven by the house elves for her, in jewel tones of red, blue purple, green, with gold thread and gold fringe. The silk threads were from Torayama, and the cashmere from the goats on the farm. She tied the shawl tightly over and around her waist, clipped the jeweled holster for her athame to secure it to her bodice, pulled on a pair of black gauntlet gloves, then put on her black velvet cloak.

Frank Longbottom was staying at the Farm for the dance. He brought along a ring for her. They were in no hurry to marry, since they would be focusing on their careers in a dangerous field in dangerous times. Their mothers didn’t care for each other’s company, apparently a conflict that began some years ago. Frank showed Eli the ring. She loved it. There was a large center stone, a five sided faceted diamond, with a trillion cut diamond on each side, set in Faerie metal, with their initials combined into a sigil engraved on the inside. “We’ve already set the date, next Beltane. So we can get a bit of privacy. Neither of our mothers would show up at the Farm on Beltane.”

“Wonderful, Cordelia can do all of the arrangements, you two just show up.” She handed the ring back to Frank. “My mother did a good job on this one. Wherever did you find these stones?”

“I bought them in Tokyo, with the pearl necklace, I picked out all of the pearls myself. When I spent that year as an exchange student at Mahoutokoro. I knew I wanted to marry Alice then. You may think it’s silly and sentimental.”

“Of course not.”

Frank grinned. “Alice wants to ride up to the top of your hill. On that beautiful silvery Akhal Teke mare who glitters in the sun. Artemis, she shines like the moon. Have the actual ceremony as the sun rises and spend the rest of the day partying. We shall never forget our anniversary if it’s Beltane. Vivienne can bring her Faerie boy, it’s usually a great day here on the Farm, so I’m told.”

Eli smiled. “I like that. We can all ride up the hill, greet the sun, and do the ritual, then come down the hill for the feast. And if the weather doesn’t co-operate we can just use the house, plus the tents we’re putting up along the stream. And you have to ride the golden Akhal, Apollo, who shines like the sun god. That would be lovely.”

The girls came down together and the party got into the coach. Takeshi was driving a four in hand with a matched team of Friesians, with Nils riding shotgun. Vivienne spoke, “I hope you don’t mind if me and my date bail early, we want to get down to Nocturne Alley for the Lupercalia celebration. He has to attend this stupid dance so his mother doesn’t panic, of course. I’m writing a paper on the holiday for my History of Magic class.”

Eleutheria laughed. “Quite a few of the people handing out rings will be jealous. They all have to get the right girl, have a very long engagement, get married, have an heir and a spare, then discreetly handle their own strange desires. I suppose it’s harmless. I’m glad my official date is George, he’s a nice enough fellow. Not in any hurry to get married, I noticed. And he’s a great dancer. So, has everyone got their scorecard?”

The coach pulled up at the front door of Hogwarts, and the group went to the Great Hall, and met their dates. Takeshi got busy with the final sound check and gathered the musicians. Colors in the red spectrum predominated in the girl’s dresses. After checking their cloaks and going to their table alongside the stage, Frank announced, “Take out your scorecards, let me be the first.” He got down on one knee and took out the ring. “Alice, if you’ll have me, I will be with you so long as my heart beats.”

“All right! Everyone take a drink!” Alice shouted. “Yes, of course.” She held out her hand and Frank put the ring on her finger.

It was traditional to take a drink to toast to every engagement announced at this party, which was why the age restriction was in place. Alice poured out shots of aqua vitae for all of them. “Well, that’s it for our group.”

The music began to play. Eli stood up and untied her paisley shawl, her athame in its jeweled holster attached to the bodice, then in a graceful gesture, swept the shawl off her shoulders and tossed it over her chair. Severus took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor. The Friends grabbed their partners and joined them. The drinks at each place on the table began to increase as the rings began to be presented to the girls who had snagged their boyfriends. Most of the Slytherin girls had their future husbands selected mostly for dynastic reasons, from the pool of eligible men of suitable bloodlines. They’d known each other all their lives. Eli had to stay sober enough to play in the last set so she took only a token sip from each shot of aqua vitae. She poured the remainder into a chalice and said she’d drink it after she got offstage.

By the last set, most of the crowd was too buzzed to dance, and they listened to the music, stared at their fellow students, surprised to see how they had grown up since they’d met years ago. Takeshi had selected some of his love songs he’d written over the years to Emerald. By the end of the set, most the the couples had straggled off into the night, some taking boat rides to Hogsmeade and the inns for the night. Eli drank the chalice of aqua vitae, which immediately went to her head. Takeshi packed up his guitar, said good night to the staff, rounded up Eli and the Friends, packed them in the coach, and got them back to the Farm for the night.


End file.
